In Over Their Heads
by Mandy1229
Summary: Lilly is still dead, but what if it wasn't Aaron who killed her. Was it the jealous Lianne? The ice queen Celeste? Or the obsessive Duncan? What will happen when the more things change the more they stay the same. LoVe and MaDi
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I wrote the notes for two stories, I began posting Reaching for the Brass Ring but unfortunately my muse ended up wanting to write more chapters of my version of this story instead. Lilly is still dead, and Abel Koonz went to jail for the murder but Aaron isn't the killer this time. There are some major changes that will be explained along the way but I did want to say that my mom was a huge fan of LA Law so I could't make Harry a psycho. Basically Aaron and Lynn are good parents just absentee to due to his career as an A List actor.

Chapter One

"We Used to Be Friends, A long Time Ago...

"This is my school. If you go here, your parents are either millionaires, or your parents work for millionaires. Neptune, California: a town without a middle class." Veronica realized she was talking to herself as she drove across the school parking lot to find her assigned parking spot.

Oh joy, it was right down the aisle from the last group of people she wanted near her. Pulling in, she made sure that her parking permit was visible in the window of her Le Baron, then getting out, locked it tight as she headed towards the front of the school, ready to begin her junior year of high school.

Seeing her classmates standing around the flagpole, laughing and taking photos, she pushed past the hoard only to see another teenager duct taped to the flag pole. The tall thin kid was naked with the word snitch painted in red across his chest.

Shaking her head as she saw no one helping him, she pulled out a small pen knife, moved forward and began to cut him down. When he was free, she couldn't resist sarcastically saying "Welcome to Neptune High!"

Twenty minutes later in the middle of her first class, half asleep in AP English, Veronica hears the teacher Mrs. Murphy calling her name. Realizing that she was asking about Pope's Essays on Man, she quickly explained her answer adding that it translated to Life's a Bitch until you die.

Hearing a few snickers, Veronica ignored the slights as two of the flaky blonds who were in the class only because of daddy's money said that if anyone was a bitch it was Veronica.

A very predictable announcement came over the intercom asking various students to go to their lockers. Smirking as she packed up her books, she couldn't help thinking right on time, once again ignoring comments about how she was so busted; she hurried to her locker where she saw Clemmons and Deputy Sacks waiting for her.

What they didn't know was that she was well aware of whose locker was going to be searched during the schools war on drugs before even the vice principal was thanks to a new friend she had made during the last school year. With a smirk, she opened her locker, let them search it but winking at the older man standing there glaring at the photo she had up in the door of her locker.

"What can I say, I love me some Clemmons." she said with a smirk as she looked at the photo of the vice principal surrounded by a red heart taped there.

"Okay, its clear, sir." Sacks said shaking his head as they went on to their next locker.

Veronica grimaced when the Deputy left without even a glance her way. At one point, she was close to all of them, after all her father had been their boss, but since Lilly's death, they all acted like she didn't exist.

Lilly's death... It was almost a year ago that her best friend Lilly Kane had been found murdered by the pool at her family home. The case had gone viral, the whole world knew about the death of the young Kane heiress and the bumbling sheriff who insisted that they had arrested the wrong man.

Jake Kane had gone after her father, had gotten him recalled from his positions as Sheriff, had gone to the press, determined to make sure that Keith didn't get Abel Koontz freed. Why she didn't understand, surely Jake would have wanted the real murderer of his daughter caught, but instead of standing behind Keith, he had used all his power and influence to ruin him.

At lunch, sitting at her table alone; she glanced over at the idiots acting like they ruled the world and admitted to herself that if it wasn't the world, it was Neptune High.

Duncan Kane, only son of Jake Kane, software giant, billionaire, Jake Kane. Duncan, her first crush, one of the FAB Four that had once included his late sister Lilly, Logan Echolls, and herself. One minute it seemed as if he was going to ask her out, the next minute, she found herself on the outside looking in, not getting why all the sudden those she had cared so much about were ignoring her.

Lilly's death and two parties later, and she pretty much despised the whole lot of them. But more about that part of the story that later. She didn't want to think of her mistakes, of her foolishness and what she had lost as a result...

Then there was Logan Echolls, son of Aaron Echolls, rich successful A List Movie star and his brilliant and beautiful wife Lynn. Logan was an amalgamation of his parents' beauty and charm when he wanted to be, but when he froze you out, you were out, simple as that. She could still recall the day he had looked through her, the day he had succeeded in making her feel like she would never be warm again.

The rest of the gang, Dick and his brother Beaver, at one time she had thought Dick amusing now she wanted nothing more than to slug him when he gave her that lazy almost sneering grin he was so famous for. He had scared her that night, the night of the Casablancas family's Halloween party the year before.

He had been so nice when she had first arrive, it was as if he had forgotten that she was apparently now banned, then mere minutes later, he had screamed at her and knocked her drink out of her hands and then had dumped it in the trash, told her to leave and had forced her to get into one of the many arranged cars with drivers. Veronica had left, trembling at the anger she had seen in his face as he screamed at her for simply drinking her mixed drink.

Casey and Luke, the rest of the guys who followed Duncan and Logan's orders as if they were handed down by the Greek Gods were sitting near the twosome as well, waiting for who know what, looking at the two boys expectantly. The girls did whatever they were told, not wanting to be sent out of Paradise, yeah right, Paradise, a place where you kissed ass if you wanted to be in the in crowd.

Hearing a thump on her table, she turned to look at Wallace who had dropped his bag lunch on it, a few smart remarks later; she found herself smiling back at the boy she had rescued when he said he would rather sit with her. That smile faded when she saw the bikers surrounding them and telling Wallace that he was in trouble for not staying on the flag pole.

Working out a deal with Weevil the de facto leader of the PCH bike gang, Veronica ignored his innuendo laced comments as she tried to figure out how she was going to accomplish what she had offered to do.

"Congratulations, Wallace, first day and you managed to piss of the local bike gang and the Sheriff's department."

"Well I always was a high achiever." He said with a shake of his head at her bravery in taking on the bald leader of the PCHers who was covered in tattoos.

Heading home, her mind on her last birthday party before everything fell apart, she let herself into the family home, wistfully wishing that she heard her mom's mood music, but instead all she heard was Backup coming towards her, his leash in his mouth.

Walking her dog through their new residential neighborhood, a step down from the larger home they had owned when their mother had lived there and her dad had been Sheriff. An hour later, she let herself into her dad's very busy office and saw Cliff waiting.

"Cliff, dad is out of town, chasing a bail jumper." She told the attorney even as she kept doing the paperwork for her dad's latest case. She had come to work for her dad a little over four months before, the same day she had cut her hair, changed how she dressed and grew a tougher skin. She had had to, she needed to keep busy because otherwise she would be thinking of things she couldn't afford to, not if she wanted to keep her sanity.

"I know, I will just leave the details with you of what I need him to look into." he said in a knowing tone of voice. "Its amazing, your father is often out chasing bail jumpers, yet everything manages to get done. No cases turned away, no files left unfinished."

Cliff tells her that his client dances at the Seventh Veil and beat up a washing machine at the local Laundromat. She wants to make a deal and mentions that the Seventh Veil has an interesting way of keeping their liquor license. Cliff opens the folder, puts it on the desk in front of Veronica, and takes his leave stating that Loretta was going to be brought in front of the judge that Friday.

It was almost midnight when Weevil turned around on the main drag when he saw the dark colored convertible with the young blond inside as they drove down the main drag. Stopping next to her open window, he couldn't resist tossing out a few comments, reminding her of her promise. "Remember, your pal can quickly find himself taped to that pole again."

Felix looked at the blond they kept running into and got off his bike, moving toward her, wanting to prove his manhood. "So chica, what do you say, you and I." With that he made a very disgusting move with his hips, only for Veronica to say that he wasn't her type.

"Nah, you like rich white boys, as many as you can, don't you?" he sneered as he kept moving forward, the rest of the bikers had seen Weevil's signal to stay back but they couldn't resist pointing out to Felix that he was being mocked by the blond.

Felix swaggered forward, resting his arm on the roof of her car, leaned in to leer at her only to hear a deep parking sound, then felt himself falling backwards as the dog in the backseat tried to get to him.

Weevil inwardly smirked at the way his cousin quickly backed down and called to Veronica. "Call off the dog."

"Backup chill, you don't know where he has been." Veronica told her large pit bull who was leaning out the window wanting to attack the young biker with what was apparently cheese for brains.

Felix stands and starts to move forward only to feel electricity jolting through his body. Standing, the biker obeyed his leaders order, cautiously eying the blond sitting in the car.

Weevil starts his bike and snarls "Weevil love you long time."

Shaking her head, Veronica sarcastically gives him a thumb up and says "Quite a reputation I've got, huh. You want to know how I lost my virginity. So do I."

She had awoken in a bed at Shelly Pomeroy's house; pain in her girly parts and her underwear on the floor and a tear slips down her face as she realizes what must have happened. "I never told my dad, I knew that I was foolish and frankly I had no idea who or what had happened and I knew it would kill him to learn any other bad news at the time."

Arriving at school the next day, her video evidence of what passed for the law at the Seven Veils locked up safely at the house, she was crossing the parking lot when she heard Logan Echolls calling out her name. Seeing how he had blocked her from getting by in his large yellow truck, she crossed her arms and listened to his latest barrage of insults.

When he included a comment about her mother, Veronica found the inner strength as she resisted the urge to cry and vowed to make him pay and pay dearly even as she watched Duncan stare out the passenger window, after a feeble comment to his best friend to leave her alone.

She had already begun her plans to deal with the bikers, but now she knew who she would use as cannon fodder, while she looked around for her friend Mac who had agreed to meet her in the lobby.

"Veronica." She heard her name being called out and turned to greet the only girl in school her age as short as she was. The dark haired girl with the blue stripes in her hair grinned at her as she came to a stop in the middle of the hallway.

Greeting her computer friend, she asked "Do you have a name for me?"

"Corney." she offered up then asked if she could tag along.

"It's better if you don't." she cautioned. "That way you can't be blamed if this goes wrong."

"Hey, I thought we were friends." asked Mac worried about what Veronica could be up to, she was certain that it involved way more than a fake bong.

"Trust me, you want nothing to do with this one." she is told as Veronica smiled then greeted Wallace. Mac was beginning to understand that this had to be about more than the PCHer's Mac backed off and went towards her AP History class.

Greeting the boy known as Corney, Veronica was happy when he said he could have it ready for her the next day and that it would be a hundred dollars. Handing over half the money, she said "Thanks."

That night her father returned, the bail jumper locked up and his check deposited. "Barbequing on the patio, like the middle class we once again strive to be."

As they talked and cooked, Veronica filled him in on the various cases she had handled in case the clients called, then asked him about his plans for the next day."

"I have a few meetings with clients out of the office, the whole day," he said finding it hard to look her in the eyes as he lied to his little girl.

Entering school the next day, unsettled to realize her father had just lied to her the night before, Veronica and Wallace were standing outside the door of the computer center, watching as Logan opened his locker for the Sheriff and Vice Principal Clemmons.

Watching as he stepped back, a smirk on his face, Veronica laughed at the expression on Lamb's face when he saw the bong in the shape of a man's penis inside.

Logan looks surprised at first, then with a glare began to look around, ignoring Lamb's order at first to turn around. Watching as the boy was handcuffed, and his rights read to him, she found she took pleasure in his hock as he sees her. "I know that this was you. It's not over, Mars."

At three thirty, Veronica and Wallace watched as the fire department answered the fire alarm at the Balboa county Sheriff's department and watched as they hurried inside the evidence room.

"I can't believe we did this, you know if we get caught, we are going to jail, right?" Wallace said even as he breathed a sigh of relief at getting out of trouble with the local gang.

Dropping off Wallace at his mother's job for Kane Enterprises, Veronica sees the dark colored sedan with the license plate Kane 1 pulling out and couldn't resist following him. When she saw which way he was headed, Veronica slipped onto the next street to reach the sleazy motel before him.

Arriving at the Camelot, Veronica pulled out her camera, wanting the money shot determined to learn what Jake Kane was up to.

Taking the photos, not really glancing at them as the man entering a motel room door and quickly shut it, she began to take photos of the cars on the lots like her father had taught her to when she had begged him to teach her the ropes of the PI business.

Halfway down the lot, she froze when she saw her dad's stake out car almost parked at the entrance. Getting back to her car, she pulled out and headed back to the office, needing to use the computer there to see if she was right about her rather frightening idea.

Sure enough, it was a man's hand shaking Jake's as he entered room 6 at the very seedy Camelot hotel. Moving in, she saw her father's wedding ring and with a shaking hand, deleted the photo, sick at the idea of her father meeting with the man who had gotten him fired over a year ago.

Flashing back to the night she had had to have her dad pick her up after Lilly had stranded her at the Pep Squad car wash, to the drive to the Kane house when the car radio had squawked 187, Kane residence.

Still not realizing what was going on, Veronica had ignored her dad's order to stay in the car and had walked over to where a catatonic Duncan was sitting in the marble foyer of the home.

"Duncan, what is it, what is going on?" she cried out as she stood there, trying to get a reaction, any kind of reaction from her ex friend.

When he just sat there, no reaction, she followed the path towards the pool where everyone seemed congregated and shouted no when she saw the long blond hair of her best friend. The blood pooled beneath her, the stillness of her body as she lay there dead.

She turned to the Kanes, watched as Jake Kane, Lilly's father fell to his knees sobbing and Celeste stood there, staring off into space, just like her son was doing in the foyer.

Returning to the present, Veronica recalled how Jake had had her father ran out of office, how the press had crucified him, calling him the bumbling small town sheriff out of touch with the modern ways. How her friends had turned on her, how her mother had fled Neptune, upset at the loss of stature, and the drinking had begun.

Heading home, her heart aching as she tried to puzzle out what her dad could possibly be doing with Jake Kane in a no tell motel, she made a call and then went to bed, not wanting to face the man she believed would never lie to her.

Two days later, Veronica was entering the courthouse, having left a note for Cliff that she had dealt with both of his cases then went to sit in the last room, wishing she could have brought popcorn as the bailiff called forth all participants in the next case.

Sheriff Lamb testifies that the bikers stole the alcohol, how the witness had been intimidated. Veronica gives him a smirk and he looked puzzled curious as to why she was there. He continues to testify, saying they have the theft on a security tape.

He strolled to the video machine and hit play but instead of bikers stealing booze; on the screen was a stripper from the Seventh Veil who gets into the passenger side of a sheriff's car.

She disappears, head down in the officers lap as she is seen bobbing up and down. The judge gasped then looked at the young sheriff and suggested that the DA drop the charges and arrange for an Internal Affairs investigation into the Balboa county Sheriff's department.

Cliff is amused as he asked the charges be dropped against his clients as well as Ms Calhoun. "Clearly my client can't get a fair case here in county."

Veronica smirked at a clearly furious Lamb then leaves out the double doors, knowing that she had dealt with both of her messes with one piece of luck.

AT the beach later that night, Wallace and she were walking along, he playing with his radio control plane and Veronica holding onto Backup's leash.

Seeing the 09ers off in the distance, she saw the angry look on Logan's face and that Dick seemed to be holding him back for some reason when she heard the sound of motorcycle engines.

Turning to see the PCHers riding over to her, she and Weevil traded insults then she handed the tape to Wallace. "I think we understand each other."

Weevil nodded, respecting Veronica's tenacity as they were about to go their separate ways. The PCHers seeing the rich boys partying headed their way. Well, well, what do we have here? It looks like a bunch of rich boys and girls partying on our beach, now why would they do that?"

"Its public property, dickwad." sneered Luke only to be knocked down.

Veronica and Wallace could only watch as the two groups circled one another and traded insults, the air growing tenser with every comment tossed back and forth. "Why do I suddenly feel like I am in the Outsiders?" he asked Veronica.

"Be cool, Sodapop." she said as they watched the two groups argue, before the PCHers help themselves to the keg then leave. "Let's get out of here before the 09ers decide to make someone pay for what just happened."

With that they hurried to Veronica's car, Wallace feeling someone staring at him. Turning he saw the tall 09er glaring at him, standing a little off to the side from the rest, clearly he had managed to piss off more than the bikers and cops, Wallace thought to himself as he made an internal note to ask Veronica which of the rich guys that was on Monday.

**Same Timeframe, other views;**

The blond haired boy was arguing with his little brother as he watched Veronica Mars pull into her assigned parking spot and shook his head when he saw her getting out of her car.

Turning to tell Cassidy he would see him later, Dick quickly followed the ostracized blond like Logan and he had discussed while Logan went to pick Duncan up to for school.

Watching as she rescued the that new kid, he winced glad that Logan had made a that deal with Weevil, because it looked like it just might come in handy because the PCHers were going to be pissed at Veronica rescuing the kid they were making a point with.

Slowly meandering towards homeroom, Dick saw Madison heading his way and grimaced before ducking into 's journalism room, well aware that his ex-girlfriend didn't get along with the young earnest teacher.

Sending a text to Logan, Dick took his new class schedule and gathering his bag, went to find out what trouble he could get into as he began the first day of his junior year.

Madison had seen Dick ducking out on her and was furious with the blond. She had heard a rumor about him bringing GHB to Shelly's party the year before from Luke and she was pissed that Luke had said that he had been planning on drugging her.

Seeing Veronica Mars entering her AP English class and taking the seat in the back row, Madison grimaced at the other blond and was about to make a comment to her when Veronica gave her look as it to say I dare you. Taking her text book from the teacher's desk, Madison quickly sat with Kimmy and Pam, determined to ignore the girl who had been rightfully been kicked out of their group by Duncan and Logan the year before.

When the locker check announcements came, Madison glared at Kimmy and Pam and when Veronica had left the room, reminded them that the girls had all agreed not to talk to or about Veronica.

"Why?" whined Kimmy. "We all know she deserves it, she is such a slut. Did you forget that she kissed Logan while dating Duncan last year?"

"Like Caitlin said if we keep talking about her, she stays in the guys mind, lets ignore her, then she will just disappear, drop off the radar so to speak." Madison replied. "Seriously do you really want another year where the entire discussion at lunch revolves around Veronica Mars?"

Logan watched Veronica out of the corner of his eye even as he greeted the tall thin blond girl who was so determined to be his girlfriend. Caitlin was okay as far as O9ers went but unfortunately he had made a pact at the beginning of the year and that meant not being paired up with a girlfriend.

A girlfriend required time and freedom of movement and until things had been resolved regarding Duncan, Dick and he were staying clear of romantic entanglements of anything other than the one night variety. Besides, the only girl he wanted on a more than permanent basis now hated his guts.

When Duncan arrived and sat down with his lunch, Logan grimaced when he saw that his friend was staring at the petite blond sitting across the lunch patio with that kid she had according to rumors rescued earlier that morning.

Feeling someone nudging him, he looked at Dick and nodded that he had seen the same reaction from Duncan. Both of them had hope that a summer away would make things better but it didn't seem to have worked.

When Duncan suddenly stood and stalked out of the lunch room, Logan nodded at the other 09ers and made like he was following his oldest friend, but in truth he headed to his bright yellow Xterra, a present from his parents this summer after they had had to cancel the family plans and head to a movie location in Australia.

Resting his head against the back of the seat, Logan recalled what had lead to the mess his life was in and found himself desperately wishing that Dick and he hadn't heard what they had.

"Dad, I was thinking, can I borrow your car tomorrow night?" Duncan was talking to his dad in the study when Logan and Dick had arrived at the Kane house.

"What's up Duncan?" Jake had asked back. "Are Lilly and you arguing again?"

"No, it's nothing like that, I uh, was thinking on asking Veronica to go to the movies with me." They heard him saying as they waited for their friend.

Logan saw Dick's eyes on him and said softly "Veronica likes Duncan not me. It's fine. It is what it is."

Dick didn't agree, Duncan was well aware that Logan had had a crush on Veronica since their first meeting three years before and they had always had the rule of bros before hos meaning no one asked out a girl that anyone else was crushing on.

The two boys heard the sound of Jake's computer chair creaking and knew he had had to lean back in it and were surprised when they heard Jake ask. "What about Lilly and Logan; I thought the four of you went out as a group."

"Dad, I want to go on a date, not to hang out." Duncan was stating as he paced back and forth occasionally coming into view of Dick and Logan.

"I don't think that is such a good idea, Duncan." Jake was heard stating. "And you know why that is."

"Dad, I haven't had an attack in over a year thanks to the new meds, besides, I drive all the time." He said.

"That's not the issue. I am talking about you dating Veronica." Jake Kane's replied shocked both boys in the hall, of all the girls in Neptune, most parents wanted their sons dating girls like Veronica.

"I don't understand." Duncan replied.

"Duncan…" They heard Jake sounding annoyed then the sound of the taller man standing and moving closer to his son. "We discussed this, your mother and I told you that you can't date Veronica."

"Why because you once dating her mom? That makes no sense dad." Duncan said annoyed with his dad.

Logan froze at that comment; he had had no idea that Mrs. Mars had once dated Mr. Kane. There was an icky factor to that that rubbed him the wrong way.

"Duncan; stop this!" Logan heard Mr. Kane harshly snap. "Ignoring this won't make it go away. Now I told you no, there is nothing left to discuss."

"You can't stop me, just because you won't let me drive. I will get Lilly to drive me or Logan." They heard Duncan retort.

"I will tell your sister the truth, Duncan." Jake Kane quietly replied.

"Which sister are you talking about, dad?" Was the bitter answer that had Dick looking confused as he tried to recall if Duncan had any other brothers or sisters than Lilly.

"Duncan, stop, I get that you are upset, but please remember that we are doing this for your own good. Why can't you ask out that nice Meg Manning or even one of your other classmates?" Wearily replied Jake.

"I want to date Veronica; she is the only girl for me." They heard Duncan answering.

"You know that isn't possible son."

"But you don't know that it is true, dad. C'mon what are the chances you are Veronica's dad? It's more likely that Mr. Mars is." The answer had both Dick and Logan in shock.

"Duncan listen to me, you can't date Veronica. She is more than likely your sister." Jake's harsh reply clearly trying to get through to Duncan.

"Yeah right, I think that this is just something that Mom and you came up with so that I won't date. I like Veronica, she is the only girl I like and when I get to school tomorrow, I am going to ask her out."

"Duncan, don't do this. If you care about Veronica as much as you claim to, don't do this to her. If you do, then we have to tell her the truth and you know how much she loves Keith. This would destroy her."

"I want Veronica." Duncan stubbornly replied.

"Well you can't always get what you want." Jake bitterly replied as he recalled how much he had longed to marry Lianne but had had to marry Celeste when she claimed to be pregnant with his child that last year of high school.

"Well I don't believe you and I am going to date Veronica, Mom and you will just have to get used to it." Duncan snapped.

"Duncan my god, do you get what you are saying. She is more than likely your sister, you can't date her."

"Don't tell me what I can or can't do." Duncan's voice was getting hoarse but clearly it was also getting louder as he snarled at his father. "I want Veronica; I won't let you take her away from me."

"Duncan, you can't have her. It would be just like dating Lilly." Jake said still trying to reason with Duncan all the while sending a text to his wife. Duncan when he got like this was intractable but they had to get him to face reality.

"No, no, you are lying. STOP LYING TO ME." Duncan screamed and Dick looked at Logan in shock as Duncan kept screaming. They heard footsteps entering the study from the living room entrance and Celeste asking Jake what he had done to get Duncan so upset.

"Dad is lying to me again. He won't let me date Veronica. Mom please; you told me as long as I said please, I can have anything I want. Please Mom, I want to date Veronica. Tell him to stop lying to me."

"God, I wish I could." Celeste's disgust was palpable as she glared at her husband. "Unfortunately I can't because your father never could resist that bitch. He is telling you the truth, Duncan. We told you this last week. Now, let's go to your room."

"No!"

Before anyone could react, Duncan had attacked his dad snarling and shouting that it was his fault that he couldn't have what he wanted.

Frozen at first, Dick could only stare as they heard Celeste shouting no while in the study Duncan had tackled his father to the floor and now had his hands around his neck banging his dad's head against the floor shouting "Your fault!" like it was some kind of mantra.

When they heard Celeste shouting again for help, both boys rushed in and along with a man in a suit that they knew as the head of Kane Security tried to pry Duncan off his father.

Celeste rushed out of the room and returned just as they were managing to pry his fingers off his dad's neck and just stuck her son with a needle.

Duncan went slack and the man in a suit just lifted him and carried him off to his room while Jake sat up and tried to regain his breath.

"Boys how long have you been here?" asked Celeste as she looked at them.

Dick just looked at Logan, knowing he was better at lying to parents than his friend. When Logan seemed to be unable to answer, Dick was debating what to say when they heard the commotion in the hallway as Lilly arrived.

Dick quickly decided that they didn't want the Kanes to know their secret and said "We were in Duncan's room when we heard shouting. We weren't sure what was going on, so we came down. What is going on with Duncan, Mrs. K?"

Glancing at Dick, well aware of the rumors of his shallowness, Celeste glanced at Logan who seemed to be in his own little world. "Duncan hasn't been feeling well and I would really appreciate it if you kept quiet about this."

"No problem, Mrs. K. Don't you know, bros before hos." He replied knowing she would take him at face value. "Cause Donut is our friend."

Lilly entering the room and saw what was going on and knew that Duncan had had one of his fits again. Getting the two boys off alone, she asked "What the hell is going on?"

"Where is Veronica?" Logan asked. "Did you take her home?"

"Yeah, they are having one of their family game night things." She replied with a roll of her eyes at how normal the Mars family was. "Why?"

"You need to find a way to come to my place." Logan ordered then gathering Dick left. "Tonight, it's important."

Logan came back to the present, his mind on what Dick, Lilly and himself had agreed upon that night and had begun to execute the next day in order to protect Veronica. They had slipped up a couple of times, but so far they had managed to protect her from the truth and Duncan's clearly unbrotherly love.

Early the next morning, Mac had driven to school in her piece of junk car. Her dad had not been happy when Mac had spent her summer work money on such a rust bucket of a car but Mac refused to ride the bus to school any longer than she had to.

Seeing the large yellow SUV that belonged to Logan Echolls, she saw the almost empty look in the eyes of his passenger Duncan Kane and shivered. Duncan had several classes with her and Mac would almost swear that someone kept that boy drugged since his sister had died the year before.

Lilly Kane had been a moth to a flame. A troubled girl who had grown up wealthy beyond belief she had also dated most of the boys from her zip code before she was even a senior and also a few from the wrong side of the tracks but Mac had liked her.

It was hard not to like Lilly. The blond had been best friends with Veronica who Mac had barely known at the beginning of their sophomore year but that had all changed over the last fifteen months.

Looking at her laptop, Mac couldn't help recalling the mystery IM she had gotten from her online pen pal asking her to be kind to Veronica. Mac had been surprised because she had always been friendly with Veronica but mere hours after that email it was as if the whole school had been turned upside down.

Veronica Mars had become the center of gossip and rumors, her closest friends were ignoring her and it was clear that the 02er kids were taking pleasure in her pain almost as much as the 09ers.

Mac just sat down next to her in their only class together and had said "Want to get out of here for lunch? My treat?"

"Why?" Veronica had asked the pain quite evident in her eyes. "Don't you know better that to talk to me, I am a leper?"

"Cause I really don't like other people telling me who I can and can't be friend with." She said with a smile. "Besides, don't you know, they cured Hansen's disease about a hundred years ago, I think."

Veronica had looked at Mac, positive she was being set up for something, but had hesitantly agreed. It had taken time and patients but their friendship had grown and the trust had eventually came.

Mac had even told her about the IM from Bogart asking her to be become friends with her. Veronica had demanded knowledge of who that had been but they had never found out who Mac's mysterious IM partner was in spite of both of them looking for the last several months.

But they had had bigger problems than Mac's mystery friend, Lilly had died and then Veronica's mom had fled town and her dad had had to resign from the police department. Veronica had moved four streets but a complete world over from where she had lived mere months before.

When Veronica had called her that morning after Shelly's party, it had been Mac who had gone with her to the hospital. Who had sat with her when she had freaked out during the uncompleted rape exam. Who had had to calm her down when she had refused to let the hospital tell the police what was going on.

She had been the one who had sat with Veronica that day and had watched as Veronica had taken a pair of scissors and hacked up her hair then had gone shopping with her when she purchased her wardrobe and the dye that had been dumped in the washer along with any pink clothes Veronica still owned.

Seeing her friend, she gave her the name of Corney then went to class, worried about what Veronica was getting into, knowing after what she had heard this morning, Veronica's most likely target for the fake Bong was going to be Logan Echolls, the very boy who had been making her life hell for the last fifteen months.

Jake knocked on the door and was quickly let into the squalid room. "Why can't we meet at the Grand?"

Keith looked at the man he wanted to hate more than any other person on this earth and just shook his head. "It wouldn't be as private."

"Any luck?" Jake asked as he looked at the file in Keith's hand.

"Lianne is gone; she had to have had help, Jake." Keith said.

There was an awkward silence for a few minutes then Jake said softly "I got the test results, thank you."

"I wish to god that they hadn't said what they do." Keith bleakly replied his eyes on the spider climbing up the cheap curtain covering the window.

"We both know that where it matters, Veronica is your child." Jake replied his heart beating wildly. "Why the hell did Lianne wait until last year to tell us that this was possible? She always told me that she was positive that Veronica was yours. That was the reason she gave me as to why she wouldn't divorce you and marry me."

"I don't know. God only knows what was going on in Lianne's mind." Keith replied. "You know that we have to tell the truth, Abel Koonz deserves to be free."

Scoffing, Jake said. "I offered him money, he took it. He is dying Keith; there is nothing that we can do that won't make this worse. Telling the truth will only make Veronica's life a living hell and that isn't what either of us wants."

"We don't know for sure, Jake. Maybe Lianne…" Keith couldn't finish it, all his evidence gathered since he resigned proved that Lianne had gone to the Kane residence and had an argument with Lilly, that she had killed her own daughter's half sister.

"Do you think I want to believe that Lianne killed Lilly, Keith?" Jake asked harshly. "To believe that I set all of this in motion by not telling the truth all those years ago."

"Does Celeste suspect anything?" Keith asked.

Running his hands through his hair in frustration, Jake said "I have no idea. We have never had a conventional marriage, you know that. I married her because she claimed to be pregnant. After the miscarriage I felt guilty and stayed. God the mess I made of all of our lives, of your life, of our children's lives."

Keith couldn't argue with that, but he also knew from others he had spoken to that Celeste had been determined to win the very smart and attractive Jake Kane from the beginning of middle school and that had never changed.

Even know, she refused to sign the divorce papers only out of spite and the fear that Jake would get back with Lianne no matter how much Jake had tried to assure her that would never happen.

"I have to head home to Veronica." Keith said with a heavy sigh. "Jake, why are we working so hard on this if you aren't going to let me tell the truth about what happened to Lilly?"

"I need to know the truth. We both do." He said his eyes still not meeting Keith's. "Lilly was my daughter, I loved her but we both know that she wasn't an easy child to love. The last few weeks before her death, she was so angry, so bitter and she refused to tell me what was going on. The way she turned on Veronica and turned her friends against her. I thought for sure she had learned the truth but Duncan didn't tell her and Celeste didn't."

"There are days I think Veronica deserves the truth…" Keith replied sadly "But then I think about what happened last summer and all I can do is be there for my daughter, hold her and try to make sure that the secret never comes out."

A few days later, Cliff watched as Sheriff Lamb's face went a very nice shade of purple and closed his briefcase with a snap. "Now let's see if you two can stay out of trouble for a few weeks."

The gangbangers left and went to join their crew.

At the beach, they watched as Weevil made a deal with Veronica and the boy from the Sac and Pac before continuing on to harass the 09ers before riding off with their beer keg.

Duncan watched the boy walking along with Veronica and decided to watch him. There was no way that he was going to let anyone else have her. If he couldn't have Veronica no one could….

Later that night, three young men were sitting on the abandoned pier sipping from ice cold bottles of beer. "So not a bad first week."

Logan looked at Dick and said "You aren't the one whose parents want to you ship to rehab. My dad decided to have a talk with me, telling me how there is nothing wrong with having feelings for another man. I want to wring her neck."

"Yeah but it was a thing of beauty man." Snarked the bald boy wearing the leather jacket. "The look on your face when they opened that locker was priceless."

Logan found it hard to laugh as he recalled his mom making him take a series of drug detection tests and even worse the discussion with his dad. When he had begun to tell the truth, he had had to shut down because he had never told his parents what was going on and they had been very upset with him for turning on Veronica for what they saw as essentially his fault.

Dick threw his empty bottle at the trashcan finding satisfaction in it shattering then said. "Did you see Duncan's eyes when Veronica hugged that kid?"

There was silence then Logan replied. "Yeah. He isn't getting any better."

Weevil looked at the necklace he wore around his neck, the necklace he had promised Lilly he would give to V if it was ever safe and then brought up what he had been hesitating to.

"We need to talk." Standing he looked at the two of them. "Mr. Kane and Sheriff Mars met again."

"Did they find Mrs. Mars?" asked Logan still shocked that the two grown men suspected Veronica's mom of killing Lilly."

"Nah, that isn't what this is about." Weevil said then just spat it out. "I heard them the evidence they were talking about. They don't know that it doesn't only fit Mrs. Mars. That Duncan wasn't at practice like he said."

"Duncan would never kill Lilly." Logan protested as he took in the pissed off face of Lilly's secret boyfriend. "Why would you even think of that?"

Dick was going over what they knew then looked at Logan. "Last year we would have never thought he would attack his dad either. What if Lilly confronted him?"

Logan didn't know what to say, not wanting to admit that they just might be in over their head. He was silent as he thought over all of the evidence that they had heard about then said "What are we going to do?"

"For now, nothing, just keep protecting V like we promised Lilly." Weevil said. "We just need to face that we might have gone about this the wrong way."

Dick looked at the time then said "I have to get home and do my homework."

Seeing their shock, he snapped. "Hey, I don't get by on my looks alone."

"Thank god, because they won't get you too far." Said Weevil as he watched the blond leaving curious as to what Dick was up to that had him insisting on being home every night by eleven o'clock when the rich boy didn't have a curfew.

"Hey Weevil…" Logan stopped the other boy from leaving then asked the question he really wanted an answer to but knowing it would expose his weakness. "How is she doing?"

Weevil looked at the boy he had long thought had it all and knew that Logan would trade it all for a time machine to go back and change the last year and said "She is fine."

With that lie, both of them left heading in different directions, both scared to admit that they were in over their head and that maybe just maybe they might need to tell the truth before long.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two  
Thou Shall Not Be a Garbage Picker

Wallace hurried up to where his new friend was heading towards her locker and asked. "Hey, you want to go to a party. I heard about this flyer. All you have to do is that voodoo you do and figure out where it is."

Seeing what he had in his hands, Veronica took the printed apple green piece of paper then said "That is a 09er party, Wallace. Trust me, we won't be welcome. It's why it is written in code."

Arriving at Mac's locker, Veronica asked if they had met and was quickly informed that Mac had met Wallace earlier that week in Science class. "So Mac; how did your online meeting or should I call it an online date go last night?"

Blushing the other girl said "It's not like that Veronica, we are just friends."

Wallace looked at the brunette then said. "Tell me you aren't meeting someone you only know online?"

With a laugh, Mac assured him that it wasn't that kind of friendship. "It's more like we talk about school without getting specific about exactly who we are. We both agreed we were never going to meet. It's why we can be so honest with one another."

Out on the beach that night, Caitlin Ford was telling Madison all about the new guy Troy. "His parents are always gone; his dad is an architect so he had boatloads of money and lots of free time. Look, he is way better than Dick maybe no where as rich but hotter and not as big an idiot."

"Why are you telling me? Why aren't you chasing after him yourself?" asked a suspicious Madison. Caitlin Ford was well known for not doing favors for anyone, not even her so called friends. "I mean do you really think that you are going to finally land Logan now?"

Pouting a bit, Caitlin looked at where Logan and Dick were both hanging out with Duncan who had just came back from down the boardwalk with Shelly then said "No, I know that is going no where. I swear, if I didn't know better I would swear that he is into Duncan."

"Then why are you offering up a catch like Troy? Do you have something going on the side? A college guy you don't want to share?" She asked.

"Nah, its just I have hopes for another one of us." She said with a smirk as she pointed out that Shelly's clothes were a mess and that she didn't look very happy with Duncan. "Why settle for millionaire's son when I can have the richest boy in Neptune. His mother has been on the Country Club social committee with mine since June and she said that Celeste would like to invite me to their annual end of fall bash."

Now laughing well aware that Celeste Kane wanted no one with her baby boy no matter what the Ford family said, Madison leaned in and said "The reason Shelly is so upset, Duncan will fuck you if you want, but he has a little problem when it comes to certain things."

"Money can be a great reason to accept bad sex." Caitlin replied, besides she already had a man on the side that certainly was very good in bed and who did what ever she wanted and knew his place.

"No amount of money will make up for his shouting that skank Veronica's name as he comes according to both Kimmy and Shelly." Madison whispered back. Seeing Dick leaving, she looked at her watch then at the full beer keg and said "Where the hell is Dick going? Last time he claimed he was going to get another keg. This is the third party he has blown out of here early from."

Finding Beaver, she said "Why did your brother leave?"

"Dick hopefully left to get away from you for a while. Who knows, maybe my brother finally grew some brains." Beaver sneered as he looked at Madison. He saw her surprise and wanted to tell her to get used to the new him, that he was done taking crap from everyone around him.

Madison looked at Dick's truck now leaving the parking lot then over at Duncan. If she thought she stood a chance with the Kane heir, she would make another run at him, but after two separate incidents where Logan had suddenly turned up in the middle of the flirting, she didn't dare go near him.

Taking an assessing glance at Troy, then looking back at Caitlin who was looking at Duncan was hungry eyes, she watched as Dick's little brother left with one of his freak friends that he had brought with him to the party before smiling at the blond.

Troy was debating between Caitlin, who was too skinny for his tastes, Shelly who he knew was now pissed off at Duncan or maybe taking a run at Kimmy who he had known years before when the blond girl in the corner who looked like she was undressing him waved him over.

A few minutes in, he decided that she would do for the evening before leading her off to the other side of the rocks. When they returned an hour later, he heard the sneering tone of Logan Echolls and with a smug grin turned to the rich movie star's son. "What are you jealous that I had Madison tonight?"

Logan had just returned from driving Duncan home, had come back to try and relax at the party when he saw Dick's sort of girlfriend walking off to make out with the new boy. "Anyone with the right bank account can have Madison. Just ask Dick, he has had her any way, any time he wants, all because of the money his parents have."

"Fuck you, Logan. You know that Dick dumped me again." A furious Madison said as she glared at Logan. "Why is it any of your business who I date?"

"Date?" asked Troy surprised. "Uh, this isn't a prologue to a date, Madison. I uh, have a girlfriend."

"Fuck you, then." She said as she hurried away, embarrassed to see that Caitlin was whispering and talking about her to the other girls. Getting that she had been set up, she was determined to make the blond bitch pay.

"By the way, thank you for the good time." Troy said with a smirk as he looked at Logan then said "Do you think we will have some time to surf anytime soon?"

"I surf almost everyday, what you do with your time, I don't give a damn." Logan said in a bored tone as he drank the last half of his bottle of beer.

"Now don't be like that." Troy protested. "We had a great time in Mexico last spring."

"Right up until you started passing around those drugs, Duncan still doesn't remember what he did that day." Troy watched as Logan just looked at him after that comment then began to walk away.

"So, that's what they are for, to have a good time and not have to remember it the next day. Loosen up, man, you used to be fun." With what would pass as a pat on the shoulder was really a hard shove, but Logan let it go, beginning to agree with Weevil, they might be in over their heads, especially with Troy back in town.

It was almost four the next afternoon when Veronica smiled at Cliff as he entered Mar's Investigations. "So, what may we do for you today?"

Shaking his head at the blond Nancy Drew, Cliff said. "I need to speak to your dad about a case, but you might want to be there. I understand you have more than a passing acquaintance with the most likely suspect."

"Okayyyy" Veronica said following the attorney into her father's office and listening as Cliff told her dad what was going on at the Echolls house and that Lettie Navarro had been fired and arrested.

"This sounds more like Weevil than Lettie." Keith said as they listened to the list of items purchased with the stolen credit card. "I mean video games, limo rides, bike gear and a piercing plus a trip to Magic Mountain."

"The problem is that Mrs. Navarro was arrested wearing the diamond cross that was purchased with the card. Lynn and Aaron don't think she did it either, but they have no choice in the matter unless she tells the truth."

Veronica had been staying quiet then looked at Cliff, "See, it doesn't sound like Weevil either."

"Honey, I began arresting Eli Navarro when he was twelve years old, this isn't exactly new territory for him." Keith pointed out.

"Yeah, the bike parts, the games and the piercings, but not the Limo rides nor would he give Mrs. Navarro a gift purchased with his ill gotten games. He might give it to a girlfriend, yeah, but not his grandmother." She pointed out logically. "If there is any one that Weevil respects it is his grandmother."

"Now that is the Echolls issue with it too." Cliff said. "They suspect that other boy if it was the Navarro family but Lynn also wants me to look into a girl named Caitlin Ford, she was over at the house the day that the applications were put in the trash and was pretty nasty to Mrs. Navarro. She was not happy when Lynn suggested she leave; nor when the young kid Logan told his mother that she hadn't been invited."

"Veronica, what do you know about this Ford girl?" Cliff asked.

"Not much, she is a newer student. She came to Neptune at the beginning of last year, but I do know she is desperate to fit in and have a 09er boyfriend." She replied. "Her parents and she lived overseas since her dad was a diplomat and they bounced around to a lot of different assignments."

"Would you do me a favor, look into it? Maybe speak to Eli and if it was him, convince him to come clean." Cliff asked while signing the usual contact with Mars Investigations.

Veronica approached Weevil and saw the amount of cash in his pockets then said "So, stealing and letting little old ladies go to jail for it now?"

"C'mon V." he protested her thinking he would do that to his grandmother and saw the look on her face. "You don't think I did it, do you?"

"Nah, we both know it's not your style." She said as she walked along the hallway with the menacing gangster. "So, who do you suspect?"

"The Echolls kid might have done it, or maybe one of his low class friends, trying to get me in trouble." Weevil stated sending her down the path that would protect her. He had already begun to suspect that Chardo was up to something, but he had had no idea that that idiot would implicate their own grandmother.

"Doubtful, but I will talk to him." She said as she saw her best guy friend coming her way. "Hey Wallace, Drivers Ed is by the gym."

Waving her over, he explained that they had had to cancel the class. "Not enough people signed up so I was given a choice. Home studies or become an Administrative Aide. No cooking for this guy. I took the easy way out."

"Ah, someone up there likes me, I mean really, really likes me." Veronica said with a wide grin.

"Okay, so how does my getting a boring assignment mean someone likes you?" he asked looking at Veronica like she was insane.

"I was just curious about how to get a hold of a few attendance files and poof, a way in just drops into my lap." She said as she gives him a one armed hug.

"Man, you are one ballsy crazy ass chick." Wallace said when he hears whose files she wants. "You do know that don't you?

"Who loves you baby?" she asked as she smirked and runs into a handsome blond boy exiting Wallace's new first period home.

"Well hello." Troy said his eyes wandering all over the cute blond standing in front of him. "And the better question would be who loves you, because honey, I would in a heartbeat."

"Not interested." Veronica said flatly as she dismissed the boy's cutesy comment. His looks and manner reminded her too much of the 09er boys who had turned on her over the past year.

"That's a shame, because frankly my dear, I would run off to Mexico with you in a New York minute." He said with another assessing look. "Instead of a date, how about you tell me where to find AP History."

"Down the hallway, take a left at the Pirate and it's the fourth door on your right." She said as she went the opposite way to AP English.

Getting a text from Mac as she wanders the hallway towards study hall third period, Veronica laughs because apparently Troy had asked Caitlin Ford who she was and the blond had described her as Trampy McBitch.

Two periods and one more incident with new kid Troy later, Veronica was entering study hall when the monitor handed her a note requesting she meet with her guidance counselor.

"Ms Mars, I am concerned about your lack of school spirit and frankly your overall apathy this year." The tall woman informed her. "So, I was looking over your schedule and decided that what you need is something to keep you interested."

"What I need is my study hall, so that I can well you know, study." Veronica tossed back only to be given two choices. "Journalism it is, I would rather poke my own eye out with a fork than rejoin the Spirit squad."

Entering the journalism room, Veronica groaned when she saw some of her least favorite people already at various desks pretending to be busy.

"Ms. Dent." she said handing the teacher in charge a note, she was about to ask where she should sit when Caitlin Ford, one of the suspects in the credit card theft approached her teacher about going to talk to other students for her poll.

When Ms Dent admonished Caitlin to speak to more than just her friends, Veronica decided that maybe, just maybe she might like this class.

"Veronica, do you have any idea how you would like to be involved?" asked Ms. Dent as she took the blond around the room and noticed that several of her male students seemed to be either happy or angry she was now joining the class.

"Well I was thinking maybe I could take pictures." she offered and was soon lead across the room to a wall of drawers. When the teacher pulled out at least a ten year old camera, Veronica quickly pulled hers out of the bag and suggested that she just use her own.

When Ms. Dent gamely suggested that she remember to use a flash indoors at night, Veronica traded smiles with the woman who asked her if she knew who Bodie Chang was.

"Yeah, surfer from Neptune, he turned pro this year." she replied.

"He is competing in Santa Barbara this week, why don't you head over there after school and take the photos to go with the article." Ms. Dent led Veronica over to Duncan and suggested that they ride together.

"Uh, that's fine; I will drive my own car." Veronica said uneasily. She most definitely didn't want to ride in car for over two hours with her ex.

"Okay, well oil crisis be damned." said the teacher unaware that one of her students had relaxed when he heard Veronica saying she would drive herself.

If there was no other choice than her to go to the competition, keeping her out of a vehicle with one on one time between Duncan and herself was the best way to go about things. Still maybe he would convince Dick that they had to go check out things themselves.

Duncan had ducked his head when Veronica had insisted on driving herself, he would fix that he decided as he realized he now had the perfect opportunity to speak to 'Veronica without interference. She had to be told that this kid Wallace, well hanging out with him was not a good idea.

At lunch time after getting no where on the case, Veronica asked Mac to pull up the actual charges and seeing the ones for the Neptune Grand went to do a little digging.

"So, who do we know that owns a Vesta?" asked Mac as they walked across the lunch area to where Caitlin was showing off her new toy to the 09ers. "So what do you think?"

"But it was a man who signed for that new rather pepto bismo paint job." Veronica stated as Mac and she watched Caitlin pouting as she talked to Duncan and Logan.

"What about the Neptune Grand charges?" Mac asked as they watched the thing as a rail blond.

"Is there any way you can hack into their site and pull up what could have cost five thousand dollars that night because not even the penthouse suite cost that much." Veronica said.

"How do you know how much it costs?" asked Mac as she sat down and opened her lap top. Seeing the IM she had received earlier that day, she sent back a quick reply then went digging. "Okay, it says they ordered room service. Damn, they charge almost eight hundred bucks for a bottle of second tier champagne at the Grand."

"You know, there is a saying... if you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it!" snarked Dick as his brother and he were crossing the school yard. He had heard the two girls talking and needed to distract them long enough for Logan to get Veronica's cell phone.

Instead of joining him, Logan was trying to escape Caitlin and was getting pissed as the blond was now digging her claws into his forearm to keep him with her. She had seen his eyes traveling over the bitchy Mars girl and that odd computer geek and there was no way she was letting him walk away from her and go speak to either of those undesirables.

"Wow, Dick, that is heavy thinking for you." said Mac as she stood in front of her computer and glared at the blond who had recently begun tormenting her since her friendship with Veronica.

"I didn't think you thought about any thing more important than when you were going surfing, who you were going to have sex with; when you were going to sneak your next drink or maybe if that hamster inside your head was running on his training circle really, really hard you thought about playing your video games."

"What you don't know about me would astonish you." he said. "As for the sex part, just give me a call. I would be doing the whole school a favor if I kept you from becoming a frigid old maid. No charge, I promise. It might be fun, who knows maybe it will keep you from buying some decrepit old house and getting your first cat to give you a ride on the dickster."

Veronica who had always seen Mac as mild mannered was astounded when the dark haired girl moved in even closer to the tall blond and reached up to tug him lower by his ear and begin to whisper to him.

Watching as Dick flushed red enough for her to worry that his brain would fry, she couldn't help laughing out loud when he gave her the oddest look then look at Mac with fear in his eyes then all but ran the other way.

"Oh my god, you are my hero." Veronica said as she saw Dick stumbling over the trash can at the other end of the quad as he looked back at Mac then kept going.

Mac joined her in the laughter then looked at his brother who was standing there staring at Mac like she was an alien from outer space. "Beaver, I suggest you go check on your brother, trust me, he needs some help right now."

When the younger Casablancas brother had left, Mac winked at Veronica who was now demanding to be told what she had just said.

"Now what fun would it be if I gave all my secrets away." she said just as Wallace joined them with the needed school files.

Veronica's mind was still on Dick's rather ignominious exit from the cafeteria that while walking to her car for the long drive to Santa Barbara. Letting out a chuckle, she was about to toss her messenger bag into her back seat when she noticed that something was odd about how her car was leaning. Moving towards the back, she was furious when she saw that her rear tire was flat.

Hearing a smart ass comment from Madison, Veronica forced herself not to look towards the blond as she opened her trunk and pulled out her spare wheel.

"Veronica, what happened?" asked Mac as she came towards her own rust bucket. "What happened to your tire?"

"It's had the air let out of it." she said as she lifted the jack and placed it on the ground. "I don't think it was an accident either."

"Logan, Dick or one of the other 09ers?" asked Mac as she stood and scowled at the crowd of 09ers, her eyes scanning for one of the two most likely idiots. Finding neither of them there, she frowned, both of them tended to want to see the result of their vandalism and yet the only 09er male around seemed to be Duncan.

"That would be my guess. I have to drive out to Sunset Beach for the surfing tournament, Logan heard Ms. Dent assign me to it. He must be worried I will chase after my ex boyfriend." she said her voice tired. These attacks on her car had been happening for the last several months, whenever she crossed the supposed line. Clearly either Logan or one of his minions had let the air out of her tire to keep her from being any where near the last person on this earth she wanted to be around.

"I would give you a ride, but I don't think that Opie would make it." Mac said with a sigh as she looked at her beater, it was hers, she adored it but she wasn't blind to its faults. "What about Wallace?"

"Basketball tryouts are this afternoon." Veronica responded and was about to begin loosening the lug nuts when she felt a male hand cover hers. "Hey!"

"Hello again beautiful." Troy said flirting with Veronica. "What happened to your tire?"

"Someone let the air out." she said as she looked at the blond who didn't seem to get that to be an 09er you weren't allowed to speak to Veronica, at least not on friendly terms.

"Here, let me change it." He offered. Veronica stepped back not sure what to think but willing to let the blond do the hard work of removing her tire. Mac watched her mind racing as she heard the way that the Bitches of Eastwick were whispering to one another about the new kid helping Veronica.

"Hey, Veronica, if we are going to make it in time to speak to Bodie, we have to get going." Duncan said as he walked over to the scene that he had caused. He wasn't thrilled to see Troy helping Veronica but he knew the blond well enough to know that Troy wasn't interested in dating Veronica.

"I will meet you there." she said waving at the flat tire now being tossed into her trunk.

"Look, I will give you a ride. We really need to get this article done. Ms. Dent is saving us the cover, so we should head out." Duncan said and he inwardly grinned when Troy said that he would finish the tire and toss the stuff back into her trunk.

Hesitating but deciding that she would enjoy ruining what she was certain was Logan's plan and actually riding with Duncan even if it was two hours of complete silence on the ride up, Veronica followed Duncan over to where his car was parked.

Madison in her glee had sent out a text to everyone in her contact list about Veronica's flat and thanks to that, Logan and Dick both arrived in time to see Troy tossing Veronica's jack into her trunk and handing the keys over to Mac and Duncan walking Veronica over to his truck at the same time.

"Shit, shit, shit!" snarled Dick as he watched Duncan looking over at the passenger in his truck as they took a left out of the school parking lot. "What the hell happened?"

Logan looked around then saw Troy heading to his own car. After smoothing over their earlier fight, he got the information he wanted and unfortunately found himself agreeing to heading to Mexico for the surfing trip in a few weeks.

"So, do you think Duncan flattened the tire, dude?" Dick asked as they stood there not sure what to do next.

"No, but I would be willing to bet that one of the guys did it thinking they were helping." Logan snapped. "I thought I had talked him into going with us, can you find out from Madison what she knows?"

"You so are going to owe me for this." Dick warned as he walked over to the blond just in time to hear her sneering at Mac about something.

Mac looked at the blond, then her even blonder on and off boyfriend and said "Dick, do you remember that offer you made at lunch?"

She saw him turn almost white as he recalled her response. "Yeah, from the look on your face, you do remember. Well I have to turn you down because clearly in spite of all your bragging you really must not be that good."

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Madison glaring at the two of them. "Dick, you shouldn't be talking to her at all. You don't know where she has been after all."

"Thank you, Madison, now just make that order stick, will yah, it would make my day if I never had to talk to Dick ever again, but just let me finish telling him one thing." Mac mocked as she looked at the boy. "Dick, like I said, your skills in the sack are clearly lacking because if you were any good Madison would be a far more laid back person and not as big of a bitch standing around with a stick up her ass."

Cassidy had caught yet another snarky comment from Mac and was beginning to think he might need to pay attention to this odd looking brunette with the freaky streaks of color in her hair.

Watching as Madison and Dick began to fight, Mac waved goodbye and went to drive home in Veronica's car well aware that her own car would be safe since very few people knew it belonged to her.

Veronica sighed; the drive up to Santa Barbara was as boring as she had expected it to be. Duncan had said nothing the entire ride, except to comment on a song on the radio, stating that it had been one of Lilly's favorites.

Taking photos of the surfing competition and a few of the sunset, Veronica watched as Duncan thanked Bodie and walked back to where Veronica was waiting. "Do you want to stop and get something to eat?"

"Don't have time." Veronica said. "I have to get my homework done. I have my assignment for Mr. Rook due tomorrow."

Duncan started the SUV and they were heading back to Neptune when he decided to bring up the new kid. "So, I heard you helped that kid off the flag pole. Why would you do that Veronica?"

"Because it was the right thing to do." she answered well aware that Duncan tended to stand around and let others do what should be done, heaven forbid he take a stand on his own.

"You shouldn't have done that." he warned. "Now the bikers are going to be pissed at you and that kid is now following you around like a lost puppy. You need to be more careful about who you let hang around, Veronica."

"Excuse me?" she asked as she looked at Duncan in shock as he went on to say that its okay, he understood but not to do that again, that it was too dangerous.

Now fuming, Veronica ignored Duncan, happy to see the Balboa county line since it meant she would be home soon.

Duncan was pissed when he saw the lights in the rear view mirror. When the officer approached the SUV, he was a bit shocked to be told that the car was being impounded for unpaid speeding and parking tickets.

Calling his dad, he mentioned that it must have been Lilly's tickets because they were over a year old. Veronica had heard Officer Sacks mention the last ticket was from October 3rd, the day that Lilly had died so she wrote herself a note to look into it and waited and watched for her dad to arrive after she had called him to come and get her.

Seeing a car arriving, Veronica was not happy to see that Jake Kane had arrived first. "Mr. Kane."

"Veronica, it's nice to see you." he said then when Keith had arrived to take Veronica home, snapped "Duncan, what were you doing with Veronica, you know better than that."

"It was an assignment for class." he replied as he got into the passenger seat of his dad's Mercedes wistfully watching as Veronica drove off with her own dad. "I can't help it if I am assigned to work with Veronica."

On the drive back to Neptune, Veronica was telling her dad about the new class and was explaining about Bodie Chang. "But that isn't what the best part is. The reason that the SUV was towed, dad, was that there are speeding tickets on it. One from the day that Lilly died."

"Why does that matter?" Keith asked.

"Dad, Lilly drove away from the car wash, towards her house, and she was supposedly murdered a half hour later." she said. "In Neptune. In a 09er neighborhood."

"That neighborhood doesn't have any speed cameras, of course." Keith said getting what Veronica was stating. "I will see if I can get a copy of the ticket, thanks sweetie."

"Let me, dad. I look enough like Lilly that if I give them the information, the woman at the courthouse should not question it." she said as she talked him into letting her do so.

"Fine, besides, the Echoll's case is now wrapped up. Eli Navarro confessed today. Lamb had him locked up and in front of a judge this afternoon." Keith replied.

Veronica frowned and when they arrived home, opened the mail box for the note and keys from Mac as she mentally tried to figure out why Eli would confess to a crime he didn't commit.

"Dad, why would he confess? He has auto shop that period and was in class on the days that the online purchases were made." she said as she tossed her book bag down.

Calling Mac they made plans to go to school early the next morning and get a look at the computer that Caitlin and Logan each used in their forth period computer class.

That night, Veronica's mind went back to the conversation with Duncan and how it reminded her of his mother Celeste's habits of ordering her children who they could and couldn't be friends with certain people.

_"Veronica, just ignore my mom, I do." Lilly said as they laid on the chaise lounges by the pool. "She doesn't like any of our friends and I really get the feeling she doesn't want Duncan and you dating. I mean, if he asks you out, just be careful because she will try and split you up."  
_

_"Has Duncan said something to you about asking me out?" Veronica asked, sitting up and staring at Lilly excited by the idea of her first real date._

"No, I am just saying..." Lilly said. "So, dad and Donut are going golfing on Saturday and then Logan and the guys are coming over to play games. Want to shopping then come back here and harass them?"

"Shopping yes, but Mom is insisting on us doing that family game night thing, again." Veronica said, her mind still on the idea of Duncan asking her out.

_Unlike Lilly who dated and seemed to be able to attract the attention of any boy she wanted, most boys seemed to put Veronica in the friend category at school and she liked the idea of that changing, even if deep down she would have preferred another boy ask her out, but she knew that would never happen... after all Logan liked Lilly didn't he?  
_

That discussion had been two days before Lilly had suddenly begun acting like Veronica and she were no longer friends... two days before Veronica had found herself on the outside looking in.

At school the next day, Veronica and Mac were waiting for Wallace who joined them at their table. "So, what did you find out?"

"That Logan has a really, really deep need to see Alyssa Milano naked." Mac said with a laugh. "Just the standard crap other than that; though there was something odd on Dick's computer."

"You checked his browser history too?" asked Veronica. "When did you have the time?"

"I looked ath his while you were dealing with slogging through all of Caitlin's MySpace and emails." Mac said with a shrug.

"Never mind that, what was on the Dick's computer browser?" asked Wallace as he leaned in next to Veronica, eager to hear what they found.

"There was the standard Dick crap, including a search of online classical art porn, lord knows what he was looking for there. He was also looking into his dad's newest girlfriend and... obsession. He seemed to be doing lots of searches on mental health kind of obsession; not the perfume."

"Maybe he was freaked out by whatever it was you did to him yesterday." Wallace laughed. "Mac, you really have to share you secrets, because I have Intermediate Algebra with him after lunch and he was so high strung that Mr. Potts suggested he go to the school nurse."

"Me. Secret. Grave." Mac said as she looked at Veronica. "Oh, I know what I forgot."

Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her printer sheets. "I printed everything on the list from the Neptune Grand. It's amazingly scary how easy it was to hack their system."

Veronica saw that besides the room charge and the champagne there was a meal. "Wait, they ordered shell fish for dinner."

"Yes, shrimp was on the menu that night. Both meals had shrimp and they had oysters for an appetizer." Mac said.

"That lets Logan off the list of suspects." she said unaware that the boy in question was standing right behind her.

"What is it you are suspecting me of now?" Logan asked as he leaned against the pole behind him while Casey, Luke and Cole just stood there like the lackeys they were.

"Stealing from your parents and going on shopping spree and blaming it on Weevil." Veronica said, not even hiding what she was doing. She was sure that Logan was aware that his parents were looking into who had really taken the card application and she was curious as to how he would react.

"I do believe that the police have a confession." Logan said, his eyes hooded as he groaned inwardly. Weevil had confessed because of Lamb's treatment of his grandmother, no other reason but before he had gone in he had had Logan checking into Caitlin because if he was right, the blond had been a part of this mess.

"Yes but Weevil isn't guilty. I thought it was you, until I got the bill from the Grand." She admitted while watching as Dick approached from the rear. "However your browser history is clear for the online charges and we both know you won't be touching shell fish anytime soon unless you were trying to commit suicide by shrimp."

Shrugging, Logan turns to the boys watching and said "Well, well boys, guess it looks like this time, Mars doesn't get her man. Let's go, oh and Veronica don't go thinking that just because Duncan gave you a ride yesterday that means you are going to gloam onto him again."

Standing, taking a page out of Mac's book, she moved over to Logan, looked him over thoroughly then when she saw his involuntary reaction, moved in every closer and whispered "Logan, why would I settle for the human manikin when I want the psychotic jackass. If I can't have you, I guess I will just have to start with the basketball team after all didn't I already do the soccer, baseball and football teams last year."

Watching as he flushed both of them knowing that he had started the lies about that, she blew him a kiss, then walked over to Wallace and said "Shall we go find a nice quiet spot and make out?"

Wallace laughed as she winked at him and Mac gathered her computer and when she heard Dick's comment about Veronica, Wallace and her having a threesome, looked at the blond and said "Dick, jealous?"

"Oh you?" he asked scoffing at the girl.

"I was asking if you were jealous of Wallace getting both the girls, but uh, if you are interested in him, I am sorry but he doesn't swing that way, though... it does kind of explain your inability to satisfy Madison. Doesn't it?" she said as she walked away.

"Damn, Dick, what you do to piss off the geek?" Casey asked as they walked down the hallway.

Taking out one of her dad's burner phones, Veronica began calling the numbers dials from the penthouse suite at the grand that night. First up was Cho's pizza, the movie phone line. Chinese food.

Which was odd considering that they had ordered room service, why would they then order from the high school standard menu if they were eating the food at the Grand. Dialing the next number, Veronica heard one of her classmate's voices, and not a 09er. Why on earth would Caitlin call Carmen?

Dialing the last number, she was surprised when it turned out to be Caitlin on the other end. Hanging up, Veronica was trying to piece together the whole picture but clearly whoever had been in that room had been meeting Caitlin.

So who did Carmen and Caitlin have in common she thought to herself? Carmen was a junior, Caitlin a senior. Carmen had grown up in the 02 neighborhood; Caitlin had moved to Neptune last year and lived on the other side of town. The only connection no matter how tenuous was that Carmen was dating a 09er but she was positive that he wouldn't cheat on Carmen with the blond stick figure.

Doing a bump and grab on Caitlin with Wallace at school the next morning, Veronica took the blonde's phone to her favorite empty bathroom and dumped the numbers into a spare phone then made a point of leaving Caitlin's phone in the admin office so that she wouldn't get caught with it.

At lunch, she ducked out and hurried to the courthouse. Getting a photo copy of the speeding ticket, Veronica was shocked to read the time stamp. How on earth was it possible that Lilly got a speeding ticket at 6:02 PM on the other side of Neptune when she had supposedly died two hours earlier?

Arriving back at school just in time to see her photo on the cover of the school paper, Veronica was in a good mood until she saw Jake Kane shaking hands with Mr. Clemmons and glaring at Ms. Dent before leaving. "What on earth?"

In her history class, Veronica watched the class instead of listening or taking notes, her mind on the upset expression on her journalism teacher's face and the way that Jake Kane seemed almost self satisfied as he left the school grounds.

In between classes, Veronica checked all the numbers from Caitlin's phone. Most were who she had expected, parents, friends and various businesses in town, but there was one that surprised her. Why would a girl like Caitlin need to get her car serviced on the other side of town, at Weevil's uncle's garage?

"So, now that I am a bonified member of the Neptune Pirates basketball team, does that mean you will be in the stands, cheering on your best new bud." asked Wallace when he saw Veronica in the hallway.

Hugging his blond friend, he saw she was excited for him but he begin to pout when she said "Alas, no. Sorry there, pal. It would take an act of congress and even then, I might find a way around it."

"What is it with you people, first Mac who insists that a whole platoon of Marines would be necessary! Where is your school spirit, where is your Pirate Pride?" he mocked as they walked down the hallway, his arm around her shoulders.

"Well..." Veronica looked at him then said "See, it's like this... they tricked me. Told me the pirate was going to be Johnny Depp but unfortunately well... it was a look alike and then to add insult to injury he looked great in the wig and makeup. I have just never liked a man who looks pretty in black eyeliner than me."

Duncan watched; his eyes on Wallace's arm around Veronica and glared at the ball player. It looks like he was going to have to make his point a little clearer, he thought as he walked towards the parking lot.

Seeing Troy talking to Dick, he heard what they were saying and invited himself along. Dick was relieved at first; the idea of Duncan being with them was a great until he recalled that Logan was trying to keep Troy and Duncan far apart from one another.

Watching as Veronica left school, then her pal Wallace getting onto the school bus, he heard Cassidy arguing with two boys and went to rescue his little brother. "Well, well what do we have here? A fight amongst the geeks; say it isn't so. Let me guess, you are arguing about the newest Power Rangers Show."

"Shut up Dick." Cassidy said as he waved at his friends, knowing that they wouldn't come to his house to try and convince him that he had to help them. That gave him some time to figure out how to convince them to stay silent about the secret.

Arriving at the garage, Veronica parked across the street and was a bit surprised to realize it was down the street from the Navarro home. Seeing Mrs. Navarro walking towards her house with two little boys, she was about to greet the woman when saw Weevil's cousin driving off towards the 09er part of Neptune.

Just as she was trying to find an excuse to talk to Lettie Navarro, she saw something that surprised her, Carmen joining the older woman and pulling off the two young boys towards the rundown park on the other side of the street.

"Carmen." Veronica walked across the park to join her classmate as she pushed the two little boys around on the merry go round. "Who are your friends?"

"These two?" she asked as she stopped the dizzying ride. "Boys, come here. I want to introduce you to someone. Veronica Mars, I would like you to met Javier and Rafael Navarro. Boys, this is Veronica, she is a friend of your cousin Weevil's."

When the two shy boys waved then ran over to the slides, Veronica and Carmen followed." You know, Weevil and I aren't exactly friends."

"Your friendly enough." said Carmen as she watched the two boys. "Look, can I talk to you. I mean, it's important."

"Sure." Veronica said looking at the swings. "Do you think we would break them?"

"Nah." with that the two girls sat down on the empty swing set and Carmen explained. "I need you to prove that Eli didn't do what they are saying he confessed to doing; for those two boys. Miss Lettie is getting too old to handle them by herself and she really needs Eli helps."

"Is she raising them?" Veronica asked surprised because she would have put the oldest boy at seven.

"Yes, Chardo's sister ran off leaving them behind. Chardo is supposed to be helping raise them, it's why he lives with his grandma, but he is always finding a reason to dump them off on everyone else. Thankfully Eli does help, but now... I haven't told Miss Lettie but I heard my own nana saying that social services are going to investigate and if Eli is found to truly be guilty, it might cost her the boys."

"Carmen, I don't know what I can do." she said honestly. "I mean, Weevil confessed and then there is the necklace that Mrs. Navarro was wearing. It was bought with the Echolls credit card."

"I know, I asked her about it but she clams up." Carmen say as she looked around then admitted. "I think it was Chardo."

"Why?" Veronica asked. "I mean, I need more to go on then feelings and hunches."

"I think Chardo did it for a girl, he is all the time calling me, charming me trying to get me to watch the boys when he is supposed to be watching them. Plus during the summer since Eli was working at the garage, Chardo was driving Miss Lettie to work at the Echolls house and was very upset about how much money they have. I know that he thinks that they should be paying Mrs. Navarro more than they are."

"I will do what I can. I promise." Veronica said. On a hunch, Veronica went and knocked on the Navarro door and was invited in when the older woman remembered her from when she used to hang out with Logan.

After talking to her, Veronica realized that the older woman knew it was Chardo and not Weevil so just being blunt she asked why she would let Eli take the fall for something that Chardo did.

"Eli is still seventeen, Chardo is now an adult." she said her hands twisting her rosary beads tightly in her hands. "Chardo would go to prison and have a record, where as Eli will only go to juvvie for a few months."

Veronica soon realized that to Lettie this was the lessor of two evils, she clearly favored her older grandson, what other reason was there that she would let Weevil throw his future down the drain to save Chardo who clearly didn't respect or help her.

Making a few calls to Mac once she arrived home, they soon had a plan in play regarding Chardo but she got a bit of surprise when Mac announced at school the next day. "I did some checking, I got a copy of Caitlin's cell phone bill. She has three numbers that are called regularly on her phone that aren't programmed in."

"I researched them, two are men and the last one is a pre paid cell phone." Mac said as they sat down and ate breakfast since they were at school early.

Taking the numbers, Veronica began dialing. The first number turned out to be Caitlin's dad. "Guess that means the rumors about him and Mrs. Ford are true. If he has a non traditional cell phone that usually means he has a mistress and he doesn't want the wife to catch on. It's odd that his daughter has the number though maybe she doesn't get along with the new stepmom."

Number two was Troy. Veronica quickly hung up and told Mac before dialing the third number. Hearing Chardo, Veronica hung up and swore. "It's the biker."

"Heads up Veronica, we have trouble coming our way." Mac said as she planted a phony smile on her face then looked up at Madison and her entourage.

"What are you doing here?" sneered one of the followers. "There is no way that you will be nominated for homecoming queen."

"Oh, that is terrible, terrible news." Veronica said pretending to weep. "Wait. What does being in school early have to do with being homecoming queen?"

"As if you don't know what is going on, Veronica Mars." Madison stated knowing that Veronica had been close to Lilly who would have been determined to be homecoming queen. "Today is the day that the teachers recommend who the students should choose between."

"Oh." Veronica said. Then looking at Madison said "You have been bleaching your hair too much if you think that I give a damn about homecoming. Now if you will excuse us, we have more important things to worry about."

"Yeah, like if Walmart takes food stamps to get her tires fixed." spat out the choir. Mac didn't know if it was Kimmy, Pam or Shelly but she was certain that they would end up regretting this, she would make damn sure of it.

"Best of luck winning that crown, Madison. You are going to need it if you want to become homecoming queen." Mac announced as she vowed to fix the voting since it was done all by computer.

At lunch, Veronica heard from Wallace as he explained about 09er girls being in and out of the admin offices and teachers rooms all day with cookies and other items to bribe teachers into voting for them. "It's crazy; I never knew that Mr. Clemmons could be that popular."

"Where's Mac?" Veronica asked when she realized their friend hadn't joined them for lunch.

"I don't know, I saw her in the computer classroom before fourth period but I haven't seen her since." Wallace said before heading to his math class. Hearing his phone ringing before the teacher joined them, he quickly answered it on the sly. "Veronica, what is it?"

"I found Mac's computer bag in the computer room but no Mac." Veronica told him.

"Mac goes no place without that bag, what is going on Veronica?" Wallace asked as he tried to be discreet. "Is this about your case?"

"I don't know but I will find out." Veronica said as she went to track down Chardo. Finding out he wasn't in his after lunch class, Veronica went to locate his bike and was surprised to find it in its parking spot.

Checking around, she was searching the bleachers when she saw Chardo making out with Caitlin and moved in to find out what they were saying. "Did you take care of my problem?"

"Yes." Chardo was telling Caitlin even as she ran her hands down his chest. "When are we leaving town, my love?"

"My love?" Veronica silently mouthed as she tried not to gag as Caitlin played Chardo for all he was worth. When the blond asked him to come to get her after dusk that evening, Veronica heard her telling him to take care of their small problem first so that they could leave town together.

Ducking into a niche, Veronica saw Chardo leaving and decided that her best chance of rescuing Mac was to follow the biker. Being as quiet as possible, she was soon crossing the school parking lot and heading towards the band room.

When the biker went into a small storage room, Veronica pulled out her taser and followed him in. Seeing him bent over and struggling with lifting something, she quickly tasered him and shoved him out of the way only to be astounded to see Chardo had been trying to cover up a dead body, but from the size it was clear that was most definitely not Mac.

Stepping back she quickly looked the storage room and looked around for help. Calling her dad, she said "Dad, I need you at school, near the band room and hurry. Call any of the police you trust."

Keith looked at Jake Kane who had heard the whole conversation and left the hotel, grateful he was there and not at home since the Camelot was merely a mile away from the school. Hearing Jake making the call as both men drove to the high school, Keith took the sharp turn that would let them park beside the band bus.

When they arrived near the shed, Keith saw his daughter was shaking as they heard the sound of shouting from inside the room with the clearly locked door. "Veronica what is going on?"

Sheriff Lamb and two of his deputies arrived at the same time and were also asking the same question while Lamb was wondering why Jake Kane was there.

"Who is in there?" Lamb asked when he heard the male voice shouting that he was going to kick Veronica's ass.

"Chardo Navarro, he is one of the bikers. I think that he is covering for Caitlin Ford." she said as she held out her cell phone and showed them the footage of the conversation she had just seen. "I was following him because Mac is missing and I thought he had kidnapped her for Caitlin for some reason."

Lamb unlocked the door, looked at Veronica when he saw Chardo beginning to charge out of the room and at the blond. When he stopped the biker, his deputies called out to him. "Sir, uh, that missing old lady we just wrote up the report on. It's her. She's dead."

"Sacks, arrest Mr Chardo Navarro here on murder charges." Sheriff Lamb said. "Let's head back to the station; we will talk about this down there."

"What about Caitlin Ford?" Veronica asked.

Lamb was about to say he had no evidence against the blond heiress but with Jake Kane standing there, he reluctantly sent a deputy to pick up the Ford girl. Caitlin Ford was the daughter of Thomas Ford, a former Ambassador to France and a man he was sure would not like having his daughter questioned in a murder.

"Wait, where is my friend, Mac? What did you do to Mac, Chardo." Veronica asked as she stood in front of the biker. "What did you do to her?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Chardo smirked at Veronica and said. "Why don't you try proving I did something to that little geek of yours?"

At the same time as Veronica was following Caitlin and Chardo, Dick was getting kicked out of math class. In the hallway, he sent a text message to Logan who soon joined him in the parking lot. "What is going on?"

"Ronnie's friend Mac is missing." he said as he looked at Logan who swore under his breath. "Yeah, and we both know how a certain someone reacts to having anyone get close to Veronica."

"I don't think that Duncan would be that stupid, he knows how protective Veronica is of her friends." Logan said as they went to see what they could find. They were near the entrance when they saw Deputy Sacks leading Caitlin Ford out of the school in handcuffs and rushing towards where they saw Vice Principal Clemmons speaking to some of the staff, they found out what was going on.

"Chardo Navarro is refusing to tell the police where he put Cynthia MacKenzie, we need to begin looking for this young woman. Leave no stone unturned. Find out if any of the students recall seeing either Ms MacKenzie or Navarro in the hallways." Clemmons was ordering when he saw the two boys. "I don't have time to deal with whatever it is you two did in class, just know that you have detention."

"Look, we were concerned about Mac." Dick stated. Seeing the shock on Clemmons' face, Dick just muttered fine and went to begin searching on his own, he would do the detention if it got Mac rescued quicker.

Soon the school was being searched, Dick had called Casey and his own brother, the only two 09ers he absolutely trusted and had them helping while Logan went to see what he could find out from Veronica.

Getting close enough to hear what was going on by the band room; Logan frowned when he saw Jake Kane speaking to Keith Mars off to the side. "Don't you think maybe you should send Veronica to the nurse or home?"

"Jake, she would just sneak back here; it would accomplish nothing, not at long as her friend is missing." Keith answered. Seeing the morgue truck backing up Logan heard the deputy not much older than himself talking to his boss.

"Sir, I looked at the body, it looks like she was ran over by an SUV. High end from what I would guess from the tire tracks." He reported to his boss. "Its definitely not a motorbike like Navarro drives."

"He probably stole it." Lamb stated then looked around to find the Mars girls. After attempting to question her and getting no where, he was about to order her to taken the station when Jake Kane suggested that he leave the poor kid alone and do his job.

"Clearly Ms Ford and Mr. Navarro were colluding to cover this up and we both know that unless she wanted something from Mr. Navarro, Ms. Ford wouldn't be speaking to the kid. My guess, she hit the old woman and got the kid to cover it up."

"Problem is that Ms. Ford personally reported her silver SUV stolen to me four days ago. She said that she hadn't driven it in a couple of days and had only noticed it missing when she got up to go to school." Lamb said. "More likely the Navarro kid and his cousin stole it from the Ford house, went joy riding and hit the woman. Do you really think that a girl like Caitlin Ford would commit a crime like this."

"Yes." Veronica stated. "I saw the news, to someone like Caitlin Ford, in her mind it was probably the old woman's fault for being in the cross walk or something especially if she isn't from her zip code."

"Strangely enough, Ms Mars, I don't recall asking your advice." Don Lamb replied.

"Well I may not be a lawyer or a cop, but when you take that tape Veronica has, the fact that Caitlin Ford does seem to believe that she is above the law and that she is now driving around town on the Vespa scooter she has been begging her parents to buy her for several days, it is at least worth talking to the young woman about." Jake Kane replied with a dry smile at the man he had helped get appointed sheriff.

"Dad, will you go look for Mac, please?" Veronica asked, worried about her friend.

"I will join in the search, sweetie. Why don't I take you back to the main part of the school?" he asked as he tried to escort her away from both Jake and Don Lamb.

"I can take her." Logan offered only for Veronica to glare at him. "Look, just trust me."

"Not if my life depended on it." The blond snapped.

"Yours might not, but Mac's may." he retorted. "Seriously do you trust anyone else to look for your friend?"

Shutting up, she let Logan lead her back to the school and when they were in the building, he said. "Chardo's bike never left the parking lot; he had no way of removing Mac from the building, so she has to be here. Where would he take her?"

"Someplace no one would notice her." she replied as they went to begin searching the school. After a half hour, she noticed that the teachers weren't looking and went to ask Clemmons what was going on. The man was pacing back and forth, clearly agitated.

"Why aren't you looking for Mac?" she asked furious.

"That idiot sheriff ordered us to stand down, he said that we might ruin important evidence, threatened to have any of us who looked arrested." he said clearly annoyed. "I called Ms. MacKenzie's parents, hopefully if he has to face them, Sheriff Lamb will realize it is more important to rescue the young lady."

"Not likely." Veronica muttered as she looked at Logan and said "I guess it is up to us, unless you are going to bail on me too."

"I'm staying." he said grimly as they went to search the empty classrooms. Hearing his phone ringing he heard what Dick said and asked Veronica. "Dick said no one is near the janitor closets, that they also looked around the shop classrooms. Where else are there no students right now?"

"Stop!" Clemmons called out. Seeing them looking his way, he muttered. "I was sending people out to search by the fields and locker rooms when Lamb shut us down. We had already searched the attached buildings."

"Dick, head to the locker rooms by the athletic fields." Logan said as they went to check the baseball stadium.

"You trust Dick to handle this." Veronica stated a bit skeptically.

"Yes, plus he has Casey and his brother looking too. He was going to grab your pal Wallace but we figured that he would get caught skipping class." Logan said as they arrived at the stadium. Ten minutes later, their search turning up nothing, they ran into Casey and Cassidy who had been doing the soccer fields and the locker rooms respectively. "Nothing."

"Why are we searching for a girl that hates us?" whined Cassidy as he sank onto the bleachers getting tired of all the running around.

"Because she is in trouble." snapped Logan not wanting to explain anything to the younger kid. He saw Cassidy glaring at Veronica and wanted to snap at him again when Casey looked at the athletic field plan attached to the outer wall. "Where did you look?"

"We searched the football fields, the police are down by the band room still so we know she isn't there. Where is Dick?" Logan asked.

"He checked the pool and was going through the building when he sent us to check in with you." Casey said as he pulled out a marker and began to mark off where they had searched hoping he didn't get caught and charged with vandalism.

Hearing the sound of the bell ringing, he looked at Logan and said "They aren't going to be letting students go, they are keeping everyone in their current classrooms, I heard Ms. Dent telling Mr. Rook."

Taking out his phone, Logan was about to call Dick when Veronica's phone rang. "Dad?"

"It wasn't Chardo, Veronica. He admitted to Cliff down at the station that he lied about Mac to distract everyone. He has no idea where she is." he told his daughter.

"She is still missing dad."

"I know, but now you need to consider where someone else would put her and not limit yourself to ideas of where that young man would have stuck her." he said. "I am up at the school, talking to your vice principal, now that they know it wasn't part of the murder investigation, Lamb pulled his officers so the teachers are back searching."

"Thanks dad." she replied and then looking at the guys passed on the news.

"What about her car?" asked Casey.

"We will go the parking lot; you two go back and search the grounds." Logan said while hurrying to catch up with Veronica.

Dick was running out of ideas when he left the pool area. They had looked through the locker rooms, the pool. The storage rooms and he was running out of ideas. Deciding to ask Mr. Thomas the basketball coach, Dick hurried back towards where the gym teachers offices. He had heard the man showering earlier and knew that he was the only person in that part of the building.

Crossing the dive deck, Dick heard footsteps and saw Mr. Thomas heading towards the very room he had been in earlier and shouting for the man who was wearing head phones and running shoes. Curious as to why he would shower before going running, Dick just decided that teachers were strange when the man stopped, pulled out his cell phone and answered it.

"What?" he heard him saying. "I will be right there, I been running the cross country track since lunch. I just got back."

Dick who for once in his life wasn't try to annoy a teacher, waited patiently but before he could get the man's attention, the young teacher was running up towards the school. Getting frustrated, Dick decided to make one more attempt to check the baseball dugouts for Mac.

Halfway across the baseball field he was thinking how stupid it was for a teacher to be running at that age, after all didn't have heart attacks from exertion after like twenty five when it hit him that if Mr. Thomas had been running since lunch, someone else had been using his shower.

That meant someone else was down in the teacher's locker room and that that someone might have seen Chardo with Mac. Hurrying back to the locker room, he stood outside, waiting, trying not to rush in and get someone upset with him.

Ten minutes later, muttering about how damn long could they take a shower, that he didn't even take a shower for that long when he self satisfied. After another five minutes, wondering if Mr. Thomas had forgotten to turn the water off earlier, Dick sweated it out and then covering his eyes entered the building.

"Hey, dude, is there anyone in here, cause there is a girl missing and they need all the teachers help to find her." he called out and heard nothing from where he was standing in the office part of the divided room. Sweating in uncomfortable places, Dick moved his fingers enough so that he could enter the locker room part of the building without tripping. "Hey, anyone in here?"

Hearing a thump, Dick backed up cautiously then called out. "Hey, is anyone here?"

There was nothing just the sound of water. "Okay, not cool dude. You're wasting water." he said as he moved forward, entering the locker area and curious as to why the teachers had nicer lockers than the students.

Finding nothing but a half opened locker with the name Thomas on the brass name plate, he moved closer to the sound of the running water. "I really hope you aren't going to get me sent to detention, dude."

Entering the room, he saw the sight of naked skin in one of the private showers and swore turning around, not wanting to see a naked teacher; that would scar him for life. "Hey, is everything okay?"

Still not getting an answer, Dick was debating what to do when he saw that the water was flowing out from behind the curtain towards a central drain and that it had a purple tint to it.

Freezing, his mind on the bright streaks of color he recalled from that morning, and Dick took a deep breath and rushed over to find an unconscious and very naked Mac in the tiled cube, her arms still tied to the slip bar.

"Oh shit." Dick muttered as he reached up to turn of the now cold water, and then lifted her head from where it was leaning against the cold tile. Shocked to realize she was turning blue, he heard her gasping for breath. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."

Looking around for a towel, not finding one, he removed the shirt he was wearing and then went to pull out his cell phone only to notice it had gotten wet and wouldn't work. "Oh crap, sorry about this, Mac."

With that, he carefully leaned her back against the wall and rushed into the other room. Seeing a towel and some other clothes in Coach Thomas' locker room, Dick rushed back to Mac and realized with a muttered oath that he hadn't gotten anything to cut her down with.

Wrapping her up in the towel, Dick went back to the other room and still couldn't find anything to cut the rope with. No phone either to his dismay. Returning to Mac, he began to untangle the rope, furious to see the rope burns on her arms, he breathed a sigh of relief when he was able to get her hands free.

Lifting the smaller girl, he was holding her close to his chest, making sure that the shirt from the locker room was unbuttoned he slipped it over her to cover her upper body as modestly as he could and found that in spite of everything going on, he couldn't resist taking a peek at the body he had long wondered about. "I am so glad you can't see me doing that."

The towel was all that he had to cover her lower parts but the shirt was long enough that it worked to do that too as Dick lifted Mac and carried her out the door towards the pool. He knew there was a phone there and he was sure that there were more towels as well.

Laying her down next to the bleachers, Dick picked up the phone and just began to hit the various buttons labeled for the school. Hearing a voice he said "Missing girl, down by the pool, hurry send an ambulance."

Keith who was helping Clemmons speak to the newly arrived Natalie MacKenzie quickly called Veronica who was even closer than they were while the school admin aide called 911.

Dick hung up, trying to remember what to do in case of drowning. Checking her airway, Dick saw she was having trouble breathing, so he held her nose and began to breathe into her mouth only to hear gasping.

Backing up, he saw her eyes were open but unfocused. "Don't talk."

"Dick?" He could see the confusion in her eyes and heard her beginning to choke again so he reached down and pinched her nose to begin mouth to mouth again only to feel a sharp pain in his stomach.

Lifting his mouth for a second, he felt the pain again and looking down saw her pinching him. "Hey, I am trying to save your life here."

"Fine, stop kissing me!" she gasped.

"As if." he sneered back in 09er mode. "You are barely breathing, you're shivering from the cold water and your skin is turning blue. Half conscious girls really aren't my thing."

Hearing footsteps, Dick looked up as several people rushed into the pool gates. When Mac tried to move, he stopped her and said. "You are only wearing a towel."

She froze when she felt his hand on her bare leg to keep her from exposing herself but felt a sense of relief when she heard Veronica and her dad calling out her name. Mere seconds later, her mom was hugging her tightly as tears poured down her face.

"Hey, Mrs. Mac Mackie needs air." Dick protested. "'Sides, you are kind of causing her towel to shift and while I don't mind, I really don't want Mac to hit me for looking."

Natalie MacKenzie didn't know what or how to take the tall blond boy admitting to her that he was enjoying seeing her daughter undressed, she didn't know if she should be pissed at him for being so blunt or thankful for his rescuing her.

"Then don't look you idiot." Logan whispered as he looked at his friend who was flushing as he moved back away from the brunette.

"Mr. Casablancas, would you care to explain where you found Mac?" Keith asked trying to find out what had happened to the young girl his daughter was so close to.

Suddenly tensing up, Dick looked at Mac who was telling the medics she was fine, then said "Mac you were drowning in the shower, let them take you to the hospital."

"I don't like hospitals." she answered.

"Well if you don't let them make sure you are okay, you will end up in one anyway and anyway but only longer, trust me, I know that from surfing. Water can damage your lungs." he replied then looked at former Sheriff Mars and explained about Coach Thomas and thinking he was showering.

"So between the time Coach Thomas left for the track and about forty minutes ago was when Mac was brought into the locker room. Mac, what do you remember?"

Mac looked at Veronica's dad, then felt tears coming to her eyes as she admitted that she didn't remember anything after computer class. "I was working on a special project and then I heard the bell ringing for lunch. I bent down to lift my computer bag and the next thing I remember is Dick trying to kiss me."

Muttering about mouth to mouth, Dick glared at Mac who was being lifted onto a gurney and covered with a sheet.

Watching as Mac's mom left with her and the medics to head to the hospital, Keith asked Veronica if there was anyone she knew who want to hurt Mac.

"That's just it, no." she said her mind trying to piece this together. "I mean, other than Dick and Logan doing their usual crap, no, no one would want to hurt Mac."

"I think it's a safe bet that neither of those boys were responsible for this." Keith replied.

"I know." Veronica said sending a quizzical glance towards the two boys who were standing awkwardly off to the side listening to Vice Principal Clemmons. "I just… dad, something is going on with them, I mean, they were clearly worried about Mac. Maybe they heard one of their friends talking about doing something to Mac and didn't want to get in trouble."

Veronica was watching as the boys left heading back to the school, her mind reeling from the odd look she had just saw on Logan's face when he turned around to look at her. Hearing her dad talking to Deputy Sacks, she was astounded when he insisted on having Cliff there when they talked to the police.

At the station, Veronica was shocked when Caitlin's stepmom and mom got into a fight in the middle of the lobby, even more so when her father joined in on the argument.

Sliding into the room where they were holding Chardo, Veronica looked at the gangster and asked. "Why would you think that Caitlin Ford would ever choose you?"

"She did, she loves me." He stated only for Veronica to hear Cliff entering the room.

"Veronica, you need to go speak to Lamb." He said as they left the kid alone in the Interrogation room. "Caitlin tried to put all the blame on the Navarro boy; however her stepmother let the police search the Ford house. They found all the evidence they need. Turns out blondie hit the woman, and then realized that the store she was in has a video camera watching cars on the street. She called her good pal Chardo and he stole it, gave it to her."

"So what is going to happen?" she asked as they entered the large office that had once been her fathers.

"Are you the young woman accusing my daughter of this horrible crime?" snarled the former Mrs. Ford as she charged forward towards Veronica.

"Mrs. Ford, please control yourself." Jake Kane snapped from the other side of the office. Veronica wondered why the man was here, didn't he have some fancy office on the other side of town that he should be in.

"No, this little girl has no right spreading rumors about my daughter. Do you think I don't know your reputation, Ms. Mars; that you are even allowed to attend the same school as my sweet innocent Caitlin. Sheriff, I think this is who you should be investigating, I am sure that she is the one who did this, then set my daughter up."

Lamb looked at Veronica, his sneer visible for all to see, and then he looked at the woman wearing the couture suit and expensive gems. "While I have no doubt that Veronica isn't quite country club material, unfortunately she is not likely to hit someone with a stolen car and then blame the car owner. Mrs. Ford, speak to your ex husband and his attorney, there is no doubt that your daughter is guilty."

When the older blond had left, Don Lamb looked at the teenager he despised and said "Veronica Mars, now that your attorney is here, why don't you explain from the beginning just what part you played in this mess."

Escaping the police station an hour later, Veronica saw Weevil leaving in the company of his grandmother who was explaining why she didn't make Chardo tell the truth. Shaking her head, Veronica saw the press had already gathered and ducking away when she heard them calling out to Weevil, she hurried to her dad's waiting car. "So, now what?"

"How about we get some dinner and we head home?" he suggested.

"I was thinking I would stop by and see Mac first." She asked.

"Okay, I will take you back to the school, you can pick up your car but I want you to head straight home after speaking to Mac." He said as they did just that.

Half a mile from home after dropping Veronica off, Keith answered the phone. "What is it, Jake?"

"Duncan had a fit, Celeste took him to the clinic, I have to cancel my meeting tonight." He stated. "Unless you trust Clarence?"

"No, we deal with this just the two of us." Keith replied then swinging a right onto Montrose headed to his office deciding to get some work done since his plans were no cancelled.

At the MacKenzie residence, Veronica and Mac were talking about all that had gone on that day. "So let me get this straight. Chardo Navarro stole the credit card application, gets the card then starts shopping. Somehow he ends up meeting the Paris look-alike Caitlin and they what?"

"From the sounds of it, they were having sex." Veronica said.

"Okay, so things come to a head when the Echolls get the bill and the same day Caitlin hits someone with her car while backing up. Drives over this woman and what… picks her up and tosses her into the backseat of her SUV?"

"Yes to the hit and run, but it was Chardo who was with her who put her into the SUV." Veronica says.

"They remove the evidence from the store of her visit and drop the dead woman off in the band equipment room?" Mac asks.

Veronica felt sick as she said "They don't know for sure if she was dead yet, the ME is running tests."

"Okay that is just creepy." Mac said shivering as she pieces together the rest of the charges and how things fell out. "In a way I feel sorry for Chardo, he clearly believed that Caitlin would run away with him."

"I don't." Veronica said stiffly. "He made me think he had kidnapped you."

"I don't get that part, I mean if it wasn't Chardo who was it?" Mac asked as she reached down and pulled her sweatshirt up around her. "Who would leave me to drown like that and another thing, where are my clothes?"

"I don't know, but dad is going to keep looking into this." Veronica said softly. "I am sorry; I think this is all my fault."

"I don't." Mac said then asked the question that had been bothering her all afternoon. "Veronica, why did Logan and Dick help look for me?"

"I don't know." Veronica said then admitted. "They used to be my friends; at one time I would have called them first if something like this happened, but now… I just don't know."

Mac sighed then admitted. "Its was strange how nice Dick was being. Do you think that they were part of this? And if not, how long until he makes me miserable for his having saved my life."

Veronica hugged Mac as she vowed to find out what was going on. When she had picked her car up at the school, she had seen Duncan's silver SUV was still on the parking lot as well. Then there was Jake Kane and her dad, what was going on that they had arrived at the school together?

Leaving Mac when her friend said she was tired, Veronica went home, then lifting her cell phone looked at the number still listed in her contacts. Hesitating for a second, knowing she could be opening herself to more trouble, she finally hit send.

"_This is Logan, today's quote… If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are—TS Eliot_"

Veronica hesitated again then said "Logan, I just wanted to say… thank you for your help saving Mac today. I uh, would you thank Dick for me as well. I don't have his phone number anymore."

Hanging up, she went to bed, her mind still on all of her unanswered questions, knowing that she wouldn't get any answers that evening but she was determined to find out what was going on and to figure out why she felt so unsure of the answers she already had.

Logan listened to the message on his voice mail, then looking at his father sat down and asked him. "Are you going to hire back, Mrs. Navarro?"

"We offered, but she turned us down." Lynn answered as she entered the room. "She was offered a job from the Kanes."

"She is going to work for Celeste Kane?" asked a doubtful Aaron.

"No, apparently she was hired by Jake to organize his mother's house." Lynn said as she looked at her son then asked. "I heard from Sadie Casablancas today. Dick Sr. filed for divorce, how are Dick and Cassidy doing with all this upheaval?"

"Mom, it's their stepmom, it's not like Dick is divorcing their biological mom. The newest Mrs. C ignored the boys unless there was something in it for her." He replied. "Though, Dick did suggest a surf trip, I think he wants to get away before his dad comes home from Madrid."

"That's fine; just stay out of trouble and take the Jeep not the Xterra, okay?" Aaron replied while reaching out for his wife's hand. They were going to be heading up to LA for meetings and hadn't wanted to leave Logan alone but if he was gone with the Casablancas boys, that would be okay.

Logan went to his room, sat down and called Dick. "What are you doing?"

"Online." Was Dick's response as he smiled and wrote a reply to a personal IM. "Mrs. MacKenzie called to thank me again for helping Mac."

"Did Mac talk to you?" asked Logan, he was still curious as to what the dark haired girl with the bright purple streaks had said to Dick a few days later and his friend was refusing to speak about it, in fact his only response had been to turn so red that Logan had expected steam to leak out.

"Nah, she was asleep according to her mom." Dick said then after a few minutes asked. "Did you hear; Casey found her clothes?"

"Yeah, which one? Which one did it?" Logan asked wanting to know which of their friends had crossed the line and physically hurt Mac.

"I don't know, but Logan, I think its time to begin reeling them in. We need to find a reason to end this." Dick answered soberly. "Before someone gets hurt even worse."

"I got a call, Duncan lost it again today." He answered then a few minutes later, after listening to the sound of Dick's computer keys clicking, he said "I think we should tell someone."

"Why don't we wait until we get back from the surf trip? Maybe an answer will come to us while we are down there." Dick replied.

"Okay, but I am getting a bad feeling about this, Dick." He warned his friend. Hanging up, noticing that it was after eleven, he turned on the television just in time to hear the commentary about the manslaughter charges that Caitlin Ford and Chardo Navarro were facing.

When the new Sheriff, Don Lamb began to speak, Logan hit the power button then reached over for the photo that was still in his desk drawer. Veronica, Lilly, Duncan and himself at the beach two weeks before Duncan had lost it, a month and a half before Lilly had died and four hundred and sixteen days since the day he had agreed with Lilly's plan.

A plan that had cost him any chance of a future with the girl he had realized he was in love with. A plan that had Dick and himself in over their heads because it had been Lilly's plan and thanks to her death they had had no chance to fix things. A plan that had to end, because he couldn't handle another person getting hurt, especially not Veronica.

Tomorrow, the trio left behind by Lilly to fix things would meet, hopefully there would be a clearer path than there was that night because Logan was sure of one thing, he had figured out one of the secrets and Lilly was right, it was a good one.

TBC

A/N: I have a question, do we want Cassidy to still be one of the attackers of Veronica. I am writing that part now and have an idea about it. I am going to have Duncan trying but unable to manage what is canon but I am debating something different for Cassidy so if you have an opinion please leave me some advice. And if you don't want it to be Cassidy, who other than Logan, Casey or Dick do you want it to be?

Also, I apologize for the long chapter, this was supposed to be two but I got busy and wasn't able to post last Weds which had been my plan. So I gave you an extra long, 14K chapter. -Mandy


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to those of you that have reviewed, as a writer it lets me know if I am going in the right direction with a story. Now as to Cassidy, I have been working on various ideas of how to use him if I don't make him the rapist. This is a short chapter, the beginning of Meet John Smith. I wanted to give you something fun. ER... sorry, it ended up being the whole shebang, lol.

**CHOCOLATE GOOEY BUTTER COOKIES**

Keith was sitting in the office, his mind reeling from the idea of a teenager girl being as selfish as Caitlin Ford was. During her arraignment, Ms. Ford had lost it during a confrontation with the judge that had shocked more than one hardened criminal justice official to the core.

She had done exactly what his daughter had predicted and had tried to blame the victim when she realized that both Chardo Navarro and she were going to jail, the charge: Murder two; depraved indifference to human life. Her victim HAD still been alive when she had been placed in the band shed.

First up though had been her placing the blame on the Narvarro boy but the District Attorney had made it very clear that she was just as responsible as the gang member if not more. When a broken hearted Chardo had played the various messages of love that Caitlin had left on his voice mail, it had become very clear that she was no innocent in this mess if there had ever been any doubt.

Her dismissive attitude had cost her any chance at bail and now her father and her attorney were trying to convince her mother that the best thing might be to throw herself on the mercy of the courts. Though, Keith was not too sure that Judge Theo would have any compassion for the young woman who had none for the grandmother of twelve she had run over then left in a shed to die.

Hearing Veronica's car pulling up, he wrapped up his open file and when his teenage daughter entered the office announced. "We have a free night; my bail jumper was hiding behind his mama's skirts, literally. You should have seen the look on Lamb's face when I brought him in wearing drag."

"So daddy-O, whats the plan? Are we heading to the nearest bar to watch the hockey game for the fights, drinking brewskies? Sticking one dollar bills into the g-strings of the girls at the Seven Veils? A quick trip to Vegas so that I can increase my college fund?" Veronica asked with a smirk knowing darn well it meant a movie night and take out from Luigi's.

"Nah, I was thinking we would head down to the main drag and we could race my Pontiac Camero for pink slips. The band on eight track and maybe if you are really good, I will let you take the wheel of my snazzy car with its fancy white walled tires." He said as he hugged his daughter then said "Or we could watch Dirty Harry movies and order take out."

"Alas, what an exciting life we lead." Veronica said as she walked with her dad to his car then recalling what he had said about snazzy wheels, looked at her dad then asked. "Is that why you became a cop, Dad? The fancy smancy Crown Vic you got to drive? Because I hate to tell you this, but there is no way, shape or form that a Ford Crown Vic even with a V8 engine can be called snazzy."

"Fine, drive your own car." He called out as she continued on to her LeBaron. At the video store, Veronica was questioning why they were called video stores when they sold and rented DVD's now as her dad and she argued about what movie they were going to watch.

XXX

Meeting up with Dick, Logan was explaining that his parents were going to be out of town all weekend for a premiere when he heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle.

Weevil removed his helmet and looked around the empty docks then said grimly "I have some information but did you find out who took MacKenzie's clothes?"

"Yeah, dude." Dick said as he opened a bottle of beer and offered it to their partner. "Trust me, it's being handled."

Seeing the raised eye brow on the otherwise bald head, Logan said grimly "It was a couple of 09er girls. They tried to blame it on Caitlin Ford but the timing didn't fit. They thought they would be funny, slip something into her water to get her suspended, instead when she passed out, they panicked and had Sean Fredrich help get her out of the building."

"Fredrich?" Weevil knew that the Fredrich family lived in one of the nicer houses in Neptune, old money versus the new money that had come to town as a result of Kane Software going public.

"Yeah, but the part that is odd, they both deny removing her clothes and Fredrich's story matches theirs. They also claim not to have tied her up." Logan said. "Fredrich will be dealt with, but I have to wait until my parents are back to make the plan work."

Weevil sat down on the seat of his bike then looked at the two of them. "I think your pal Kane is responsible for tying her up. He was seen changing out of wet sneakers after lunch."

"He was locked up in the hospital this afternoon." Logan offered. "I heard something about how he had some kind of attack. I got a call from Jake Kane today, asking that I give Duncan some time before coming to see him."

"Deal with him." Weevil ordered knowing that he didn't dare take on Kane himself.

"One thing, both girls are refusing to tell anyone who they got the GHB from." Logan said. "Sound familiar. We haven't had anyone getting drugged since Troy was here last year. Now he is back and once again an innocent person is drugged."

"Shit." Weevil swore, frustrated because he had been avoiding giving Logan this bad news, but clearly it was no longer possible. "He uh, was talking to V at the beach earlier today. He wanted to go on a date, she turned him down."

"So he has Veronica in his sights?" asked Dick not liking that one bit. He had heard about Troy sleeping with Madison, while he didn't care one way or another about who Madison sleeps with, he did know that Troy tended to use local girls when visiting Neptune, that he had a long term girlfriend at his boarding school.

"I heard him working his charms." Weevil sourly informed them. "I think he managed to convince her that she at least owed him coffee for changing her tire."

"Dick, use Madison to out that he had sex with her that night at the party." Logan all but ordered. "Please?"

"On it, I will piss her off, she won't hesitate to complain to anyone she sees about him. I uh, Weevil, how is Mac?" he asked rubbing the back of his neck confused as to why he was being so open with the bald gangster. The computer girl hadn't been in school on Friday, still recovering from her almost drowning and the drugging so he hadn't actually seen her.

Seeing the raised eye brow, he flushed then said. "You know, like have you seen her?"

"Her mom was at the soccer matches with her brother today." Weevil's very reluctant speech had Logan smirking.

He couldn't resist needling the Mexican by asking about Carmen.

"Not funny dude." Dick told his friend after Weevil had left to head to wherever he was going. "You do know if he decides he likes her that Tad is going to go apeshit, right?"

XXX

Troy had been charming during their Sunday morning coffee date, but Veronica had no intention of getting involved with anyone who was close to the 09ers and she had just about decided that she needed to lay it on the line with the boy who had been so attentive when she heard Madison speaking to Kimmy as they entered the Hut while Troy was in the bathroom.

"So anyhow, Caitlin knew that Troy has a girlfriend at school. That he comes here and finds some girl to use while here then when he can convince his dad to send him back to school the local girl isn't even told goodbye. I mean he was pretty good fuck, unlike Dick who barely says a word, but still, I have no intention of being his go to girl here in Neptune."

"So what are you going to do, go back out with Dick?" Kimmy was asking as they went to sit down.

"Nah, I made up my mind, I want Casey or Logan. I refuse to accept anything less than top tier even if Dick is richer. No more dating Dick, no more falling into his plans so that I can say I have a boyfriend. I mean, Logan should be over Lilly by now after all its not like they really dated all that long. What maybe three weeks? Most of the time they hung around they were just friends." stated Madison.

Troy exited the bathroom and was returning to Veronica when he saw the blond he had slept with the weekend before and ducking around the other side of the room to avoid her, rejoined Veronica.

Veronica gave Troy an assessing glance then asked to borrow his phone to call her dad knowing that with the no cell phone policy she would have to take it outside which would give her a chance to check his calls.

When he handed it over, she did exactly that and saw a number on the East Coast that was called several times a day. Pushing send, she heard an anxious voice asking if he had found someone to help with their plan.

Hanging up, Veronica grimaced then called her dad for real. As Troy walked out to join her, she promised her dad she would be right over then with a slight smile said to Troy. "Uh, I think I triggered your speed dial when I called my dad. Some girl whose number looks to be from the area code in New York answered. It's great that you stay in touch with your former classmates."

Veronica quickly excused herself, then arriving at the office, ran Troy's name for trouble on the East Coast and soon found out he had been kicked out of boarding school for drug possession. That he had a local probation officer who more than likely let him slide on following the rules because of who Troy's dad was.

Hearing her phone ringing, Veronica saw that it was Mac and with a quick hello asked her friend what was up.

"Not much, Mom and dad are still a bit freaked out about what happened but they agree I can go back to school tomorrow. So what are you doing this afternoon?" Mac was completely and totally bored but at the same time, she was trying to avoid doing what her mother wanted.

"I am helping Dad at the office. Wallace is heading to the beach; can you slip out and come with us?" Veronica was going to offer to pick her up, knowing that Mac's parents were being very protective right now.

Mac sighed, looked at the half written note on her desk and admitted. "Mom wants me to write Dick a thank you note, but it is so awkward. I mean, he saved my life but how can I phrase it in a way that Dick won't turn it into a perverted joke or humiliate me by sharing it with the rest of his crew."

"I have an idea. Do you think your mom would mind us using her kitchen and oven?" Veronica offered.

"Nah, Dad is watching the game so Mom went to visit Aunt Susanne so they can begin to plan their holiday shopping. Heaven forbid that they have to buy anything at the last minute." Mac said as she looked at the calendar that was still on September. "What do you have planned?

"Cookies. Dick's favorite, you give them along with a note simply saying very specifically thank you for his help making no mention of being naked or the shower because that way you should be able to avoid Dick's rather one track mind."

"Sounds good, but I hope you are planning on doing the baking. I uh, am not much of a cook." Mac stated. "However, if you want your computer defragged or to hack into the Pentagon; I am your girl."

XXX

That night, Mac was online talking to her computer buddy when she typed in "WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE COOKIES?"

"CAN'T TELL YOU. IT WILL BREAK OUR RULES." Bogart replied. "WHY?"

"JUST CURIOUS." Mac replied then asked if he had done the AP History class assignment.

"YES. MR. ROOK IS NUTS, SERIOUSLY WHO CARES WHAT ANSWERS WE THINK SOME LONG DEAD ROMAN EMPEROR WOULD GIVE TO HIS LIST OF LAME QUESTIONS."

"I KNOW, MOST OF THEM WOULD HAVE YOU KILLED FOR THE IMPERTINENCE OF DARING TO ASK THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE." Mac replied, laughing as she imagined Veronica interrogating one of the long dead men.

"DOING THE ENGLISH, WHY ARE WE READING POETRY?"

"I LIKE THE POETRY." Mac replied.

"THAT'S BECAUSE YOU ARE A GIRL. GIRLS LIKE THAT STUFF."

"TRUE, I LOVE LORD BYRON,HE WAS A ROCK STAR WHEN HE WAS ALIVE. I MEAN GIRLS DID THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY VERSION OF THROWING THEIR BRAS AT HIM, HE CAME TO A BAD END TOO." Mac replied.

"HAVE TO CHECK HIM OUT. SOUNDS COOL"

Mac heard her mom calling her and said she had to head to bed. "NIGHT!"

A few moments later she had a smiley face send back to her with a large mouth yawning and then falling asleep flat on its face then snores being emitted.

XXX

Veronica was not thrilled to be assigned yet another long assignment from her English teacher. She was not sure how she was going to do this assignment, writing her own poem would be difficult enough without having to read it to the class.

Leaving the classroom, she saw her dad and waved when she saw him entering Principal Morehouse's office. She had heard about the new councilor who wanted to talk to the various students who had experienced the loss of Lilly. Rebecca James had gotten a grant to study the affects of death on a student body but Veronica had no intention of being one of her guinea pigs.

Seeing Duncan walking into school with his parents, she saw them entering Vice Principal Clemmon's office clearly not happy to be there. When Celeste glared her way, Veronica bowed at the bitter woman who had always detested her then went on to her next class knowing her dad would tell her what was going on later.

"Veronica?" Lifting her head from where she had been studying, Veronica grinned at Mac who sank into the chair in front of her.

"What are you doing here, I thought you had computer lab this period?"

"I am supposed to, but apparently Ms. James got me out of the class. I was telling her I wanted to be there, that I am planning on being a computer science major and she totally blew me off. So since I knew you were free this period and I saw Dick a bit earlier, I thought we could avoid the humiliation of handing him the cookies in public and maybe we could kind of break into his Hummer?" Mac asked weakly as she gave Veronica a pleading look.

With a smirk, Veronica said she was in and then as soon as the bell rang hurried to see her journalism teacher to get excused then led Mac to the parking lot. "What are you supposed to be doing now if you aren't allowed to attend class?"

"Oh, according to Ms. James, I should be reflecting on what we are going to talk about in our twice weekly meetings that she wants to hold." Mac said with a grimace. "I am going to talk to my mom; she should be able to get me out of these sessions."

Arriving at the large and vulgar gas guzzler, neither of them realized that Dick was already inside, taking a nap. He had study hall this period and usually snuck out to his truck to take a nap so when he heard the sound of girl's voices, he popped his head up from where it was resting on his text book from AP English.

"So, have you ever done a Hummer before?" he heard and blinked because he would have sworn that was Mac's voice. Dicks's mind went someplace very dirty before realizing that they were talking about breaking into his car.

"Only once. When Dick first got this behemoth, I uh, just wanted to see if I could break in without setting off his alarm." Veronica said with a smirk.

"Did you?"

"Got in, but still set the alarm off." Veronica confessed. "He was so paranoid for a week after, it was really funny to watch him come running down to the parking lot any time an alarm went off."

Dick's eyes narrowed as he recalled how afraid he had been for what had felt like forever. He had been convinced that Cassidy had left the door unlocked but now that he knew the truth, he was going to get revenge.

"So, what is taking so long?" Mac asked after a few minutes.

"It's hard to figure out the keyless entry. With Dick lord knows what the code could be." Veronica said. "Are you sure you don't just want to give him the cookies at lunch."

"I would rather eat my own shoe." Mac said. "Can you imagine how he would react, let alone that pack of hyenas?"

"Ah, I have it. Well at least two of the bars." Veronica said as she finally got it open. "That's strange. I know these numbers, even if I don't know why it rings a bell."

"What?" Mac asked. "I mean its Dick, he is normally strange."

Realizing that they were close to getting into his truck and curious to see what they were up to, Dick dived over the back seat grateful for the darkened windows as he heard them opening the door.

"You are a genius, Veronica Mars." Mac said as she put the box on the passenger seat. "So, do you think we should just leave the cookies or add the note too?"

"It's up to you, you told your mom you would write the note, I never heard you promise to deliver it." Veronica, queen of the splitting hairs reminded her.

"Its not that I am not grateful, it's just… I really am not up for another round of Dick." Mac said. "He can be a handful normally but now, I just don't want to deal with the smugness nor the remarks about how he saved my life or how I was naked. I mean can't he just be... I don't know mature about it."

"You seem to handle him just fine." Veronica said curious as to what she was thinking. "I mean that day you had him running away at lunch, Wallace wants to crown you queen of Neptune for it."

"It's just… I mean, I just play a part… try to do what I need to do to get him to leave me alone." Mac said miserably. "Its not hard, Dick likes to talk the talk, and its not like he hasn't had sex, but its really easy to pretend to have the experience to play his games, but one day I am afraid he is going to call me on it and then what do I do?"

"You borrow my taser and make sure that little Richard doesn't have the balls to come out and play ever again?" Veronica offered. The blond in the large silver truck felt the need to cup his balls just in case.

Laughing, Mac said "That's you, not me. I need to find my own way of dealing with guys being jerks. Maybe take a self defense class. Wait, what do you say… do you think your dad would let you take a class with me."

"Do you really want Don Lamb teaching you self defense because he is the one who teaches the one at the community center." Veronica said.

"Let me see what I can find online." Mac offered as they closed the Hummer door and went to find a quiet place to talk until it was time for lunch.

Dick waited until they had left then as carefully as he could, climbed back into the rear seat. Lifting the box from the front seat, opening the box to find the cookies inside, his mouth began to water as the scent of freshly baked cookies filled his vehicle.

Looking around, Dick was annoyed to realize he had nothing to drink in his truck but noticing it was almost lunch, rushed towards the quad with his package of cookies held tightly in his hands.

Paying for a few pints of milk, Dick sat down and didn't even realize that his classmates and friends had joined him as he sat there biting into his favorite chocolate gooey butter cookies.

Logan and Casey were walking into the lunch room when Casey chuckled and said "What on earth is up with Dick?"

Looking up, Logan couldn't help laughing as Dick was snarling at John and Luke while holding a box tightly to his chest while wearing a milk mustache. "He looks like he is ready to deck both of them."

Joining the group, Casey looked at Meg who was staring at Dick like he was holding the answers to life and said "Meg, what's going on?"

"Tell Dick to give me a cookie." Was all she said as she stood up and joined the others who were now backing the blond up against a wall. Fluttering her eyes, she gave him her most innocent look and said "Dick, please?"

Logan's eyes narrowed when he realized that even sweet innocent Meg was now losing patience with Dick and that she seemed very determined to get the box of cookies. "Uh, Dick, why so protective of the cookies?"

"Stay away, Logan." He said glaring at his friend. Looking suspiciously as his best friend began to approach him; he glared at the rest of the vultures and said "Get your own cookies. Leave me alone."

"Mr. Casablancas what is going on here?" Clemmons asked as he walked across the quad to the mob that seemed to be attempting to get something from the tall junior.

Cassidy; who had been following the others in, placed his lunch on the table then looked at his brother and said out loud. "Crazed and glazed eyes, and several empty bottles of milk…"

Sniffing the air, Cassidy added "I smell chocolate, cream cheese and desperation. Dick somehow got chocolate gooey cookies, which is like crack cocaine to him. Forget about it, Mr. Clemmons, you won't pry those out of his cold dead hands, trust me, I have tried, I have a scar to prove it's a very bad idea to get between him and those darn cookies."

"Dick, please?" Meg asked as she fluttered her eyes at him. "Just one. I only want one cookie, I will share my pizza with you."

"Ms. Manning, get a hold of yourself. Mr. Casablancas, I am sure that those uh, cookies are delicious, but you are creating a scene." Clemmons said only to see Dick turn his glare on him then raise the cookies above his head and glare at John who was now trying to jump up to get them.

"Students, unless you want detention, I suggest you let Mr. Casablancas eat his snack in peace." Clemmons said as he managed to disperse the students. Shaking his head at the way the clearly insane teenagers were reacting, he looked at the blond now cradling the cookies against his chest in one hand while pulling a cookie out with another.

He had recently watched Lord of the Rings and almost expected the blond teenager to begin stroking the box and muttering about it calling it his precious. The look on Richard's face was very similar.

When he heard Dick moan out loud as he bit into the cookie he was sneaking, Clemmons said "I think that you had better hand those cookies over, Mr. Casablancas. I am beginning to think that they aren't legal."

"NO!" was Dick's answer as he pulled the box closer to his chest and glaring at John who he blamed for causing the whole mess.

"Mr. Casablancas, either hand those cookies over or you are suspended." Mr. Clemmons said astounded when Dick just ignored his order and said he took the suspension.

Ordering Mr. Rook to escort Richard to his office, Mr. Clemmons looked at the younger Casablancas boy and asked. "Is your father in town?"

"No." Cassidy debated but decided he couldn't let his brother get suspended and said. "Can we talk?"

"About?" snapped Clemmons as he looked at the clearly saner brother.

Following the older man with the receding hairline, Cassidy waited until they were in his outer office and that no one was around before ratting his brother out for being greedy but not stupid.

A few minutes after Cassidy had left; Clemmons let himself into his office and told Mr. Rook he could go before looking at the teenager.

"Her snicker doodles seem to cause the same reaction in the staff room last year on behalf of Ms. Kane." When Dick's eyes met his, Clemmons felt his lips twitching when he saw that Dick was still tightly gripping the box. "Let me guess, Ms. MacKenzie's thank you for the rescue."

Nodding even as he ate the next cookie, Dick was told to get out of his office and go to his math class. "And Mr. Casablancas, next time, wait until you are home before eating the cookies."

Nodding, Dick left the office heading towards his locker just in time to see Duncan leaving Ms. James office and heading to class. Going to his own class, he quickly sent Logan a note then sat down only to feel eyes on him.

Seeing Veronica's friend glancing at him like he was nuts, Dick just rolled his eyes, clearly Fennell wasn't as good friend with Veronica as he thought or he would understand that there are certain things you don't share.

XXX

"Man, Dick!" Cassidy was glaring at his brother on the drive home, "You couldn't give me at least one cookie after saving your ass. I should have let Clemmons suspend you."

"I was fine with being suspended." He retorted. "I don't have to share anything with you. We both know you only told Clemmons because you thought it might get you a cookie."

Cassidy ignored the insanity and hoped it wasn't catchy or some inherited trait as he asked. "I guess it was her way of thanking you for saving her friend."

"Yeah." Dick's mind was now on a sugar low after finishing all the cookies by the end of fifth period. At the house, he went to his room and crashed, tossing his text books down on his desk as he fell onto his pillow.

_"So, you still offering that ride?" said the girl in his dreams as the plane took off to send her husband off to save the world._

_Bogart looked at the tight bun hiding her hair and removing her hat. Pulling out the clippie things that girls wore in their hair, he ran his fingers through it until the mysterious brunette's hair was blowing in the wind._

_Leaning down to kiss the lips that were giving him a hard on, Dick felt a sharp pain in his side. Ignoring it, he kept trying to kiss his dream girl. "Say, what is your name again? I mean, in the movie, cause I can't call you Mac and not feel like a pervert."_

_"Ilsa." She replied as she stood in front of him wearing a raincoat, heels and nothing else._

_"Oh, so Ilsa, I think that this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship." He said as he reached down to hold her hand as the 1932 era air plane took off._

_"I don't think that is the line Dick. He says that to a guy." Dream Mac aka Ilsa said._

_"Hey, whose dream is this?" he muttered he as he tried to pull her back into the kiss._

_"Fine." Ilsa aka Mac replied as she threw up her hands in frustration. "So what now?"_

_"Do you remember what you offered to do last week?" Dick asked as her clothes magically fell away and they went from an air field in Morocco to a generic bedroom in Neptune._

_Watching as Mac blushed right on cue, Dick looked down and realized his own clothes were now gone. "Perfect, now all we need is a bed. What does yours look like?"_

_"I don't know, Dick. It's your dream." She said annoyed by his question. "You would have to tell me what it looks like in your dream."_

_"You know, you are awfully bossy for this being my dream." He snapped as he crossed his arms in front of him and glared at her. "Don't you know, you are supposed to be soft and pliant and hot like you usually are in my dream."_

_"Well…" she asked._

_"Well what?" He retorted._

_"Why am I not all those things in your dream? I mean I have been all week, when we had sex in the pool, in the shower, when you spilled ice cream in your bed and you dreamed I licked it off of you. What changed, why am I not all over you like usual?"_

_Pouting as he didn't have an answer at first, Dick was beginning to think that she was no longer going to star in his fantasies. She had at first been in rotation with others but for the last year, it had been her, only her._

_"Dick!"_

_Looking up, Dick began to feel sad, he had always felt sure that Mac would star in his dreams for a very long time, but clearly something had changed. For some reason he didn't want to just throw her on the bed and have sex with her, now he was dreaming about talking, he didn't want to talk, not in his fantasies, unless they were directions along the lines of harder, faster or more._

_"Dick Casablancas, stop pouting." He heard. Turning he shuddered as he saw Veronica Mars standing two feet away holding her taser. Even if she was at least wearing her bra and panties, Dick covered his eyes, not wanting to piss Logan off by looking at his girl._

_"What are you doing in my dreams; sorry I think that you invaded the wrong 09ers hot sex fantasies. Go bug Logan." He snarled at the blond who shouldn't be there._

_"Stop dreaming about my girl." He was told and felt his jaw go slack as Veronica walked over and kissed Mac. Normally the idea of girl on girl action excited him but tonight it pissed him off as he moved forward and braving Veronica's taser, pulled her away from HIS GIRL._

_"No, she is mine." He heard and turning he glared at Logan who had shown up and announced for Dick to stop dreaming of Veronica then said. "Then get her out of here, she is trying to take Mac away from me."_

_"Why are you dreaming of Veronica, Dick." He heard Logan growling as he walked closer to his best friend. "And me for god's sake."_

_"Its not my fault, Mac told me that the only way she would sleep with me was if Veronica was involved. I don't want to dream of this; I want to do it but only with Mac." He said glaring at the blond. "Veronica so isn't my type. Make her go away, tell her to stay away from Mac."_

_"You were the one who suggested that they become friends." Logan reminded him._

_"Stop being sensible, this is my dream, not yours." Dick said shoving his best friend and the girl who tormented his pals dreams out of his. Turning to look at Mac, he gave her a thorough glance over then said "Now where were we?"_

_"You were having issues." Mac said as she moved forward. When he looked at her again, she was now wearing black leather and carrying a whip._

_Backing away, Dick was very uneasy as he stuttered out "Uh, Mackie, I am not into pain in any way shape or form."_

_"Then why do you have me dressed up as a dominatrix?" she asked. Dick blinked and her clothes changed and she was now wearing a nurse's outfit and scowling, Dick said "No, I don't see you as the naughty nurse, besides, I gave her up when you began starring in my dreams every night, Mac."_

_"Then what is going on, Dick?" she asked as she looked at him with tears in her eyes._

_Don't cry, Mackie." Dick groaned as he went to scoop up the brunette, sitting down on his bed, Dick began to press kisses on her neck, then against her lips before deepening the kiss. "Stop crying, please Mac."_

_Lifting his head, he saw her smile and Dick felt as if he had lifted the world. "Dick, why don't you want me?"_

_"But I do Mackie, see." He said pressing her hand against his jutting erection. "Its just my usual fantasies aren't working for some reason."_

_Sitting there, his hand idly rubbing against Mackie's back, Dick tried to figure out why he was having such a hard time fantasizing about making out with Mac. Finally sighing he said. "Its just not happening, Mackie. I am hard, my body is aching to finish this but for some reason, none of my usual ideas are working."_

_"Oh." She said sadly then began to fade._

_"NO!" he shouted. "Come back."_

_Mac faded away and the blond boy sat there stunned as water seemed to be falling. "That's weird it's the first time I have had it rain in my dreams."_

Dick woke up, screaming "NO!"

Breathing heavily, he was looking around the room, desperate to figure out where his dream Mackie had gone. Heading to the closet, then his bathroom, Dick was sure that she had to be someplace, she couldn't leave him, she wouldn't. In his dreams, Mac always, always told him that she loved him. In his dreams, everything was perfect, or had been…

Stumbling to the hallway, Dick glared at his bed, hating his dream, hating that she went away from him. That she had left him all alone. Sitting on the bottom step of the central staircase, Dick felt his heart breaking and knew that he had to stop this.

Going to his phone, not even thinking about it, Dick dialed a number he had memorized a year ago but had never dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hello?"

"Veronica, I need your help." Dick whispered.

"Dick? Dick Casablancas, what is going on? Is this some kind of joke?" she asked suspiciously as she lifted her clock so that she could see what time it was.

Suddenly realizing that he could hardly tell Veronica that Mac had ran away from him in a sex dream, he stuttered and said. "Yeah, that's what it is, it's a joke."

Hanging up the phone, Dick went to the wet bar and got himself a bottle of JD and sat down on the sofa. Drinking a glass full, he looked at the clock and swore before rushing back up to his bedroom.

Logging on, he saw that Applegirl was gone already for the night. Now getting scared, Dick stood, walked to his dresser and pulled the picture from the bottom drawer. Mac standing at the beach, wearing a one piece bathing suit, leaning down just enough that his phone had captured her breasts.

He knew if she ever found out about the photo he was dead, but he hadn't been able to resist taking it this past summer. Veronica and Mac had been at the beach with the blond's large dog and Mac had bent to pick up a stick to throw for the dog.

He had quickly snapped the photo on his cell phone, then had denied doing so to his brother who thankfully had been the only person with him on the beach.

Sitting on the floor, his back against his bed, Dick's mind went back to rescuing Mac from the shower... after she had been fine; his mind had given him a little present, a very vivid and detailed memory of his dream girl's body.

Every curve, every concave, every single shadow... and that apparently Mac liked to be clean shaven... in placed he had never seen a girl shaved before. Realizing his body was once again getting hard, he pouted as he tried to dream only to find his arms recalling the weight and feel of her body in them as he carried her to the bleachers.

Looking at his hand, Dick found himself recalling how smooth her skin had been on her thigh, how they had felt all soft to the touch but when she had moved a bit, he had felt the slight muscles underneath and how he found himself dreaming that night of them wrapped tightly around his waist as he moved over and inside of her.

Tilting his head back, Dick was just about to reach for himself when he heard his phone ringing. Cursing, he looked at the caller ID and realized he had awoken the sleeping dragon and that until he offered a real reason, Veronica Mars was going to bird dog him for why he had called.

"What do you want, Mars?" He snapped after hitting send.

"Why did you really call?" she asked as she leaned against her pillow. "You are disturbing Mac and me."

"Fuck." Dick snapped as he found his eyes were almost turning green as he imagined Veronica doing to Mac all things he wanted. "Why are you sleeping with Mac?"

"I am not sleeping per say with Mac, you idiot." she growled and seeing Mac's raised eyebrow admitted that they were having a sleep over.

"On a school night?" he asked disapprovingly.

"What are you the slumber party police?" she asked now exasperated with the blond who had interrupted their sleep. "Now what did you want Dick?"

"Let me talk to Mac." He ordered.

"No, Mac doesn't want to talk to you." she replied as she saw the brunette shaking her head no as she listened in on the conversation on the speaker phone. "What. Do. You. Want. Dick?"

"Tell her thanks for the cookies." He muttered then asked. "What are you wearing?"

"A taser." she replied and saw Mac laughing into a pillow when she added. "And nothing else."

"Get dressed Mars." He ordered then said. "Uh, anyhow, thanks for the cookies."

Mac hesitated then looking at Veronica said. "Dick, thanks for everything you did. I mean, for finding clothes and untying me."

"Hey, not for the mouth to mouth?" he couldn't resist asking. "I mean, I gave you the kiss of life."

"Good night, Dick!" Hearing the sound of the phone being hung up, Dick laughed then went to climb into his bed. At seven am, Dick abruptly sat up and gasped. Shaking his head, he quickly went to take a shower needing to wipe the very hot dream out of his mind. Clearly he needed help because that dream was way different then all of his previous dreams about Mac.

Stumbling into the kitchen, he saw Cassidy eating breakfast, and grabbing his Frankinberry cereal, he poured milk into his bowl and just shoveled the food into his mouth, not wanting to talk to anyone, at least not until he had gotten as far away from his very erotic dream as he could.

He would almost prefer to have Mac back as the dominatrix, in her newest incarnation, she had been every single teenage boy's most secret fantasies, then just before he had awoken, the dream had taken a very scary twist, one that in real life would have Dick running for the hills.

"Dick, where are you going?" asked Cassidy as he chased his brother to the garage, annoyed with his brother who seemed to be in a huge hurry. Hopping up into the passenger seat, he looked at Dick who had carelessly tossed his books into the back seat and couldn't resist asking. "Did you even bother to do your homework?"

"Dude, do I ever?" he asked scornfully. "If you don't want to walk to school, don't speak to me."

At Neptune High, Dick rushed over to meet with Logan, annoyed to realize that he had forgot to call him the night before so that they could put their plan into play regarding the two girls who had drugged Mac.

Coming to a halt in time to see Logan pacing back and forth, he said. "I have it."

"What happened, you were supposed to be here at six." he snarled.

"Trust me, dude, you don't want to know. I f-ing woke up late last night, called Veronica who was having a sleep over with Mac. Made an ass of myself, then she called back, then she wouldn't get out of my damn dreams. I have had no sleep and am not in the mood to deal with you acting like a fricken girl. I am here, I have what we need, just let it go." he spat out as he looked at Logan.

"Wait, who won't get out of your dreams? Veronica?" he asked now really pissed at Dick.

"Thank god, no. Mac" Dick said shuddering. "And now that I have seen her naked, trust me, its even worse."

"So, what do you dream about?" Logan asked now wearing a huge smirk. "Hot monkey sex, the two of you..."

"Shut the FUCK UP." glared Dick. "I am not kidding, just let it go. What do you think I dream about, if you tell me yours, I will tell you mine. So just what is it that Veronica does for you... do you dream about her suc-"

"Hey, where have you guys been?"

Dick turned to see John Elbom and Casey Gant coming their way and just shoved past them calling back to Logan that he had to set up their plan.

"What is going on with Dick?" asked Casey shocked to see the usually cheerful 09er looked as if he wanted to kill someone. "Is he still pissed about the cookies?"

Shaking his head, Logan said "No, its nothing. Listen, do you know Samantha Thomas and Belinda Sampson?"

"Yeah, Belinda is an ex-stepsister to Carrie Bishop." John said. "Why?"

"They were the ones who drugged Mac. With help, I am dealing with that part, but I want you to help Dick deal with Belinda and Samantha. They need to realize that they crossed a line."

"Did we ever find out why?" Asked Casey.

"Homecoming, it seems that they were 'helping' Madison. The blond cheerleader brain trust seem to think that Veronica is campaigning to be Homecoming Queen. So..."

"On shit, you are going to make it happen, aren't you?" said Casey with a chuckle.

"Yeah, Dick put the first part in play. He suggested Mac at first, but it would be more difficult to get 09ers to vote for Mac, most of the students in her classes have problems with her blowing the curve for them." Logan said.

"Well, you know, it we could stack the votes, it would work." John said his mind turning as he suddenly chuckled. "Plus, it would set Madison off, badly. She hates Veronica, but Cindy MacKenzie gets under her skin for some reason."

"Do you think we could do it?" Logan asked doubtfully.

"Yeah, but we need a teacher to recommend her." Casey said. "Is she a favorite of any particular teacher?"

"Mr. Rook, maybe Mr. Clemmons because he always calls her to work on his computers." John said.

XXX

Keith was sitting at the small coffee shop listening to Rebecca James and knew this was going to be a waste of his time. Ms. James seemed to believe that she could make a difference in the lives of those who had lost Lilly Kane, but he was not so sure.

"I just feel that if given a chance to open up in a safe and secure environment, that I can make things better for them." she was earnestly telling the former sheriff.

"How do you plan on convincing them that they can trust you?" he asked.

"I am sure that won't be a problem, they know that I can't tell the school anything they say, after all this time, I am sure that it will be a relief for them to have someone impartial for themselves to talk to."

Keith looked at the woman, then said "I am sure that in most schools that would be true, but Ms. James-"

"Rebecca, call me Rebecca." she offered.

"Rebecca." He repeated then continued with his thought. "You don't seem to understand the students you are trying to reach. My daughter grew up around my work, she doesn't trust easy. Mr. Echolls is the son of celebrities, he has had to guard his words most of his life, the others have had similar experiences. "I am sure you mean well, but I can't back you on this, especially since I am aware from Mr. Clemmons that you are intending to write an article for the AMP who gave you the grant to work here."

"The students aren't aware of that." she said as if that made everything fine.

With a sense of pity, Keith said. "I assure you that within minutes of your appointment being announced someone went looking into your background, and by now, who you are and what your purpose is is known to the student body."

"I simply feel that you are wrong. Maybe it's the result of your years in law enforcement, but I believe that the students aren't as informed as you think."

Keith let her believe what she wanted, well aware that she would soon be awoken to the truth that the students at Neptune were different than most high school students as a result of recent events as much as who their families were.

XXX

Lunch time found three boys at a distant table assessing each girl who crossed their path on the way to lunch.

"Madison Sinclair is the ice queen."

"Yeah but she is hot, I would do her." said another boy.

"She would never even acknowledge you exist." The third boy informed his freshman pal.

"What about Carmen?"

"She is probably going to marry Tad Wilson after he graduates from Annapolis." answered the younger blond boy.

"But she is hot at least."

"Yeah, but she isn't my type. That's my type." the boy said pointing to Meg Manning.

"You had better start going to church then." replied his classmate who then pointed out Hannah Griffith.

"Nah, she is too freaky tall." replied his classmate. "Wait what about those two?"

"Veronica Mars and Mac MacKenzie. Yeah, they are hot but way too out of our league. Veronica is the girl who has all the blackmail material on the teachers and Mac hacked the FBI I heard." said the youngest student.

"Nah, Mars had the teachers lounge bugged, she didn't actually blackmail the teachers, they are just too afraid of her to punish her and Mac didn't hack the FBI, I heard it was the Pentagon."

"She comes into the store sometimes with her dad." said one of the more quiet kids at the table. "She is kind of sweet."

"Veronica Mars sweet? Weren't you here the day she tazed one of the PCHers, She is not sweet more like she has bigger stones than most guys in this place."

XXX

Veronica blissfully unaware of how she was the topic of conversation was talking to Mac about what she had heard from her journalism teacher Ms. Dent. "Anyhow, it got me curious so I sent Wallace a text to get a hold of the records."

"So this boy just stopped you this morning, outside of school?" asked Mac. "How could anyone lie to their son and say that their dad is dead."

"Mars, you so owe me." said Wallace who hands her the notebook with the records inside then says he only has fifteen minutes. "I have to go and pick up my new uniforms for basketball."

"Here." Mac said offering him up the food they had picked up for him. As he devoured it, he teased Veronica about her permanent record.

"Did you really drink that stuff you use to blow bubbles in the fourth grade?" he asked.

Flushing she said "Yes and how did you know about that?"

"There is a reason they call permanent records permanent, Veronica." He replied. "Mac, I read yours too. Man, no wonder Casablancas is scared of you, you cut his hair in the third grade."

"Does it say that he asked me to do that. He had these curls and he hated them. His mom went nuts though, transferred him to the other classroom after that." she said with a smirk as she recalled the shorn hair that had ended up on the girls bathroom floor. Then with a snicker admitted she had forgotten all about that.

XXX

Duncan was feeling a little less spaced out as he joined his friends outside on the bleachers after school. He had managed to pretend to be taking his pills for almost a week before his blackout. He had slipped then down the sink drain and no one had been the wiser.

Unfortunately his mother had caught on after the latest supposed incident. Duncan thought supposed because he didn't remember doing anything but his mom said he had done something to put his future in jeopardy. He was compliant and went to the doctor with her but after a private meeting with said doctor; Duncan had managed to convince him to cut the dose.

So now in spite of his mother watching him this morning as he took his epilepsy pill and his antidepressant he felt better. Seeing the way that Logan was watching him, Duncan pretended everything was fine, convinced that his former friend was spying on him for his dad.

Mac and Veronica were crossing the field, Veronica going to take photos of the football team practice and Mac to avoid heading home to her parents.

Hearing her name being called the blond groaned then made Mac promise to stay close by as she explained about Troy. Mac took the offered copy of his school file and put it in her messenger bag while Veronica smiled at the blond.

"So, I was thinking, since our coffee date was so successful, we could try a lunch date." He said wearing a flirtatious smile as he looked at Veronica.

"Troy, I am sorry if I left you with the wrong impression, but that was more of a thank you than a date. You are cute and everything but, I am rather busy and don't have time to date right now." she replied. "I would love to be friends, but right now, I don't have the time."

"Is this kind of like, its not you its me." he asked with a knowing look.

Flushing a bit, she said trying to be honest. "I guess so. I have to say that for an 09er, you are okay but at the same time... I am not a very big fan of 09ers."

"Okay." He replied then seeing his friend pretending like they weren't watching from the bleachers, he decided to make them think there was more going on then there was with the unreachable Veronica Mars and leaned in to press a kiss to the corner of her lips.

When she went to pull back, he moved back a bit himself and said. "So, friends?"

"Yes but so that you know for future reference, I generally don't kiss my friends" she said frowning a bit at him.

Hearing the sound of a thud, she looked around and saw a body lying on the ground. "What was that?"

Mac had rushed past her and was calling out to the two boys nearest the incident not to move the body. Calling 911 she announced that one of her classmates had fallen off the bleachers and to send an ambulance as she once again stopped Tad and Luke from moving Duncan.

"He fell on his shoulders; he might have hurt his head. Don't move him. He could have a spinal injury." she said shoving her way past them and tossing her phone to Veronica. "Do you know the number to the Kane house?"

"I think so." she replied then patted down Duncan and said "I will use his phone."

The rest of the boys had rushed down and after having yet another argument about moving Duncan with a belligerent 09er, Mac scowled at Sean Fredrich and asked "Where and when did you get your medical degree?"

"Some dumb bitch who doesn't have the sense to watch her open water bottle should watch what she says to her betters." he sneered as he looked back at the others he hung with to back him up.

"This dumb bitch as you called me has had medic first aid training." she sneered. "Veronica if he moves toward Duncan again, would you please taser his ass."

"With pleasure." Veronica said her mind on now on what Sean had unknowingly let slip. She saw that others had caught the rich boys comment about Mac's water but she was sure that they would deny it if asked by anyone with authority.

"Mac, is there anything we can do for Duncan?" Cassidy asked quietly as he moved in closer.

"Get his books, because they will be taking him to the hospital." she said as she kept her hands on his pulse point. "He seems to be fine, other than unconscious. Does anyone know what caused him to fall?"

"Fall?" asked Casey.

"Yeah, did he lose conscious or something, the medics are going to need to know." she replied as she heard Veronica speaking to someone at the Kane house off to the side.

"He didn't fall, he jumped." John said with a grin on his face. "It was kind of cool; he gave this rebel yell and then just jumped to see if he could make it."

"Mr. Kane is heading to the hospital." Veronica said as she returned then handed Logan Duncan's phone. "He heard what you said, John. I hope one of you idiots have a good explanation as to why you stood back and let his precious son dive over the side of bleachers that are over fourteen feet high."

There was silence as the medics came and loaded Duncan onto the gurney. When they had left, Veronica and Mac continued on across the field only to realize that football practice was cancelled as a result of what had happened.

"Great, lets go find out where this John Smith lives."

XXX

Jake listened to what the ER doctor was saying and hid his anger as he ordered the tests ran. Seeing Logan entering, he took the offered book bag and asked him what had happened.

Logan hesitated then gave a truthful answer. "We were at the field on the bleachers, talking when Duncan saw something on the other side of the wall. He froze then began to mutter something about Troy Vanergraff then did this odd yell and just jumped after saying he could make it that far."

"Thanks, Logan. You have been a good friend to Duncan. I know that he has been acting strange since Lilly's death, but it is only the result of the grief he feels from losing his sister. They were so close." Jake lied, not realizing that Logan knew he was lying.

When the teenager asked him to let him know how Duncan was doing and had left, Jake sat down on the waiting room chaise lounge and looked at the offered file. Celeste had always taken care of both of their children's medical needs, he had never been involved but if what that doctor today had told him about Duncan's meds was right, Jake was not going to be happy man.

Standing, he saw his wife approaching and pretended to go along with her suggestion. Leaving, he made a call and said "I need to stop over at your office."

"Isn't that a little brazen?"

"We can stage a fight." He was told.

Jake entered the small office then said "It's possible that Celeste is drugging Duncan. I need to get access to his medical records, how do I do that legally?"

"Your insurance company would have some of the information on file, dispute something in your billing." Keith said.

"Thanks." Jake then told him about Veronica's call and what Logan had said happened.

"What do you know about this Vangergraff boy, Jake?"

"Not much, I know his parents, they are good people but I have heard them saying Troy is a handful." Jake answered.

"That is one way of phrasing it. I have gotten calls from police departments from every single town his schools have been. He has gotten into trouble at each place. Veronica had coffee with him as a thank you for his helping her with a flat tire but she said she gets an off feeling about him too."

"I will talk to Duncan; find out what he knows once he is home." Jake replied as he heard the sound of someone entering the office. Storming out, he slammed the door, knowing that Keith could offer up an explanation.

"Lynn, what can I do for you?" Keith asked the television star.

"I, its going to sound odd but Aaron and I need to hire you." she said settling gracefully in the chair across from the former sheriff. "But first, I just wanted to say, you shouldn't let Jake get away with treating you that way. You are not responsible for the half assed investigation into his daughter's death. If he hadn't gotten you fired..."

"Its fine, old news." Keith replied needing to change the subject. "Now, what may I do for you?"

"Trina seems to have gotten herself into a spot of trouble." she said with a sigh. Aaron's stepdaughter from his first marriage had resented her husband until after her mother's death, then she had moved in with them because Aaron had felt responsible for the orphaned girl.

"What kind of trouble?" Keith asked pulling out a notebook.

"We aren't sure. She was staying at our place in Malibu when we arrived. Keith she had been badly beaten but refused to tell us who did it. Said we would never believe her." Lynn said feeling helpless but continuing on. "Keith, I think she was raped."

"Lynn, if it happened in LA, it might be better to hire someone up there. I can make a recommendation." He stated.

"See, Trina was down here this weekend. She didn't stay at the house but at the Grand. I know that she has a new boyfriend, someone that she has kept very secretive. Keith, please, help us find out who hurt her." Lynn said.

Agreeing to take on the case, Keith got all of the official paperwork and asked the questions he needed answers to before heading he walked Lynn to her Mercedes both not sure what to say about the rift between their two once close children.

XXX

Duncan was dreaming as he lay in the hospital bed, his mind pleasantly numb.

_"Donut, what are you thinking? Do you really think that no one will every find out what you did? You need to tell dad."_

_"Leave me alone, Lilly." Duncan snapped at his dead sister. "Why can't you just go away like other dead people? Why are you haunting me?"_

_"Duh! Cause I have unfinished business thanks to you." she snapped back. "You really need to get it together little bro, cause eventually people are going to find out what you did. Then there is the mess with Veronica, why can't you just let this go. I mean, I know you lied and told people you two were dating but it wasn't true, Donut."_

_"It would have been, if dad had minded his own business." he replied._

_"Duncan, stop. You know that isn't true. That it wasn't only dad telling you the truth that was the problem. Veronica liked you, but only as a friend. And if she knew the truth about the lies you told, that would have ended much more quickly. Logan covered part of that to protect her, but now... its time to tell the truth, Duncan. Its time to end this mess, if you want to have any kind of a future you need to let Veronica go."_

_"How can I have a future if I don't have the girl I love in it." he replied as he looked at his sister standing in front of him wearing her pep school uniform and a large dent in her head. "If I can't have Veronica, I don't want to have a future."_

_"Duncan, stop playing the damn martyr. You forget I am dead, I know who and what you are doing. If you truly loved Veronica, if you didn't already know that dad was telling the truth, you wouldn't be screwing half the girls in Neptune."_

_"Leave me alone, Lily." He snarled as he swatted towards where his sister was standing only to feel an odd sensation as his hand traveled through the girl in front of him._

Jake watched his son dreaming and calling out his daughter's name as he stood in the doorway of his bedroom and watched over him. Stepping out, he shut the door, continuing onto his office where he went to work trying to solve his latest glitch in the newest software program he was working on.

Hearing his wife entering, he looked up astonished because normally Celeste never entered his office unless he requested her to. "What is it?"

"We need to talk about Duncan. I know you said you wouldn't force him to attend school in the East, Are you still of that opinion?" she asked grimly. "Do you get why this has to happen."

"Celeste, east coast, here, Europe, it doesn't chance a thing and you know it."

"It would help him if he didn't have to see your illegitimate brat all the time." she snarled. "I don't get why you didn't force Keith Mars to leave Neptune for good."

"Enough, Celeste. Stop, just stop. What is wrong with Duncan has nothing to do with Keith's accusations, nothing to do with Veronica, we both know that this started long before Lilly and Veronica became friends, long before Duncan came back to Neptune." He tossed out there, tired of hiding the mess that their son had become.

"You can make all the excuses you want, Jake. Your mess has all but ruined our son." she said as she walked out of the room and there was a small bitter smile on her face when she heard him throwing something heavy towards the wall.

She hated Jake the very man she had once adored more than life itself. The day she had found out that unlike what she had believed, he was still in contact with Lianne. Lilly had been barely six months old when she had come home from a trip to the spa to find a pregnant Lianne talking to her husband.

Celeste had been gratified to see the wedding ring on the blond woman's hand, so she had let it go, keeping her own secrets hidden when she realized she had to ensure that Jake never left her again.

When Lianne had given birth to a daughter a few months before Celeste had given birth to a boy, the one thing she knew that would keep Jake tied to her. He had felt the affects of his own mother's leaving on himself and while he might have left her with only a daughter, a son had changed things.

Watching as Lianne pined for Jake, stuck married to that shlub of a man she had ended up with, Celeste had made sure to invite them to every party, every event and had ensured their social connections, wanting to rub it in Lianne's face that she had one and the other woman had lost. Eventually parenthood had reconnected Celeste and Jake, something like love had regrown...

The first time she had seen Veronica who looked just like Lilly had seen the last vestiges of her love for her husband fade away. Over the years, Celeste hadn't seen the younger child, but at her daughter's thirteenth birthday party, she had introduced her mother to her best friend and Celeste had been horrified to see the pretty blond who so resembled her own daughter.

There were differences, but at the most basic level there was no doubt any the red head's mind that Lianne had been playing games and Celeste was determined to destroy that friendship. Instead the more she tried to keep Lilly away from Veronica, the more her disobedient daughter had hung out with the girl.

In her room, Celeste was getting ready for bed, when she realized that there still might be a way to get Jake on her side... one that he wouldn't expect.

XXX

Saturday morning, Veronica watched as Justin and his mother spoke to the man who was her biological father. Walking away, she heard Justin calling out her name. Stopping so that he could catch up, she was surprised when he gave her a tight hug and whispered thank you.

"You are welcome." she said as she got to her car and drove over to see what Mac wanted.

When the teenage hacker joined her on the trip to her dad's office, Veronica was telling her about the latest bail jumper case her dad was working. "He is working a case for Lynn Echolls, but I can't find the file."

"So what are you going to do about it?" asked a knowing Mac.

"Nothing for now." she replied then when they were in the office, she said "I did some checking, it was Sean Fredrich who slipped the drugs into your water bottle."

"I kind of got that feeling from what he said the day Duncan dived off the bleachers." Mac said. "Have you ever noticed how he talks to girls not in the 09er zip code? I watched him the last few days and Veronica, he is a bastard."

"I did some research on him and his family. I just need a way to expose him for who and what he is. Are you going to be okay until I find a way to deal with him?" she asked Mac. "I don't trust him not to try to get to you. Not after the way he reacted."

"I uh, need to show you something." Mac pulled out a small pouch out of her bag and showed Veronica the pepper spray. "I ordered it online and it just got here today. I also signed up for the self defense class offered at Hearst College. It's taught by a former FBI agent."

"That's a good idea." Veronica said. "Wait, since when does Hearst offer classes in self defense?"

"I don't know. After we asked your dad, I got a call from someone at the registrars' office. Said that a Keith Mars had called asking about a possible class and she told me that it was the same day that a teacher there approached the administration about offering up a class in it. It's offered free for high school and college age girls to learn how to protect themselves."

Veronica was not comfortable with coincidences but she would gladly sign up for the class anyhow. Maybe she could figure out who and why the class was now being offered. "Do you think there is room for one more?"

"Maybe, but I already signed you up when I did my paperwork." Mac said proudly. "I was told it would be a small class, ten students at the most."

Across town, Jake was thanking Clarence for asking his old pal to arrange for the classes. "Did the girls find out about them."

"My assistant called Ms. MacKenzie and let her think that it was Keith who approached them." he said as he looked at Jake. "I arranged for Ameila to attend the class as well."

"Who are the other students?" Jake asked.

"Two are going to mysteriously drop out. I had my wife talk it up to the Mannings and found a few other random girls including Dr. Griffith's daughter. My wife's plastic surgeon."

"Good, so it won't be so obvious that it was for Veronica." Jake said smugly.

Clarence walked out the office, frustrated with trying to protect this young girl who had no idea who she really was. Jake and Keith both felt that Veronica's true biology was kept secret, but the security expert knew that as long as Lianne Mars was out there it was not secure. Clarence knew that Lianne would sell the information to anyone with the right bottle of alcohol.

XXX

Weevil sank onto the pier and offered Dick the bottle of beer he had grabbed. "So I heard what is going on. I want in."

"Just get your homeboys to vote for them." Dick said.

"Echolls is going to break your damn neck." Weevil said with a cheerful laugh.

"Nah, believe it or not, my little bro is pretty good with a computer. I had him set up mine ages ago. "Sides, Logan as homecoming prince, not all that unlikely." he said with a shrug.

"Well you should know, I will be taking side bets as to who gets to you first, V or Richie Rich." said Weevil who changed the subject the moment that Logan joined them.

"What is going on with Duncan McSpazz?" he asked. "Twice in one week, a new record."

"We have bigger problems." Logan said grimly looking at the two of them. "I need you to arrange to steal my car on our trip back from Mexico. Troy is making a large buy of what I guess is illegal drugs and I think that Luke is somehow involved."

"Shit!"

"Yeah, shit." said Dick as he looked at Logan. "Why don't we just cancel the trip?"

"I thought about it, but I would rather it go forward then deal with them." he replied thinking about his plan of using the drugs to get Troy shipped out of town.

"And what about Fredrick, what are your plans for him." asked Weevil.

"With his family being as rich as they are, I am not sure. He isn't someone we can just take down and for there to be no consequences. I am thinking maybe using what is going on with Troy to get him on the trip with us." Logan said. "My long term plan to use his lightfingerness won't work because with my parents go the poker game is a no go."

The three boys parted company, Dick once again the first to go while Weevil looking at Logan and asked. "What is he up to?"

"I know, but I swore to never tell." Logan replied. "Lets just say that Dickie spent too many of his formative years watching romantic comedies with his nannies and leave it at that."

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

The Wrath of Cindy

It was homecoming week and Veronica was already tired of the endless pep as she crossed the parking lot to meet with Wallace and his possible girlfriend Georgia. When she finally reached them the blond really looked like she was ready to cry.

Getting the story of the blond falling for one of the oldest cons in the book, she promised to see what she could do. Georgia gushed her thanks then rushed off to her homeroom while Veronica and Wallace waited for the late arriving Mac.

"What happened?" Veronica asked with sympathy when she saw the annoyed girl with the new purple streaks in her hair.

"My car wouldn't start. It finally turned over after a threat to end up in the junk yard if it didn't cooperate." She said a bit more cheerfully as she mentally vowed to come up with an idea to get the money for a new car. "So, Wally, was Veronica able to help your possible new homecoming date?"

"I hope so." He said then admitted that he hadn't even asked her to the dance yet.

"Don't leave it too late or she might think you aren't interested." Mac warned.

"So who are you two very fine ladies attending this annual school ritual with?" Wallace asked wincing as he realized he was doing girl talk yet again with his two closest friends. Vowing to find a guy friend soon, he pressed them about homecoming again.

"Attend?" Mac asked her eyes clearly confused. "Wallace, I think you have us confused with your other best friends, because we…"

Pointing to both Veronica and herself, she continued on "We have no intention of attending this event."

"Wait, I thought you said you were going out this weekend when your dad asked your plans Veronica?" Wallace asked as he looked at the shorter of the two girls.

"Oh, I am going out, Mac too." She said with smirk. "We will even be celebrating; we just don't intend to be in the gym."

"So, care to share with a brother what is going on?" He asked as they arrived at the entrance to the school.

"We are getting dressed up and going out to dinner then we intend to party all night long." Mac told Wallace and he continued on to his homeroom and the two girls rushed into theirs and were quickly seated just in time to see the morning announcements start.

Meg seemed extra perky as she announced that there was to be a special announcement at noon to share who was going to be part of the junior and senior homecoming courts.

Veronica just hurried off to her first class not really caring but it reminded Mac of her promise to make sure that Madison didn't earn the junior crown.

Two periods later, after waving a get out of jail free card aka a note from her mother in front of Ms. James, Mac sat down at her terminal and began to attend to her latest class assignment.

Finishing first, in spite of having missed class most of the week before, Mac sat down looking up the latest cheat codes. After a careful appraisal of her classmates, she glared at Sean recalling his remark from the week before.

With ten minutes left, assured that no one was paying any attention to her, Mac checked on the list of names for Homecoming junior queens and almost passed out when at seeing her own name along with Veronica's on there.

Quickly logging off and erasing all evidence of having been on the school's secured site, she hurried off to find Veronica. Seeing her heading into her journalism classroom, she grabbed her arm and whispered the news to the blond.

Veronica's face flushed then looked at Mac. "Would you be able to remove us before they make the announcement?"

"No, it's too late for that, but I can make sure that Meg Manning wins to foil their plan." She said glaring at Logan who was entering the classroom.

Logan looked confused when he saw the anger on her face but didn't approach the girls as they were clearly not happy with him which was odd. Why would Logan pass up an opportunity harass Veronica unless he had a larger plan in play?

"If I find out who did this…" Veronica said as she nodded at Mac and continued towards her desk.

Mac walked towards her next class, her mind on getting revenge against whoever thought that this was funny. She was mentally pulling a Carrie as she tried to pay attention as her teacher discussed algorithms.

XXX

Dick waited impatiently for the unknowing participants to arrive at lunch, curious to watch Logan's reaction to finding out that he was part of the list of students in the homecoming court.

He knew his pal hated this type of crap but Dick felt that it was foolish to just leave things up to chance. What if Duncan were to end up part of the court? How would they handle that mess?

XXX

Madison sat down with her friends waiting with anticipation for the moment she heard her name as part of the homecoming court. Looking around, she was deciding who she would take as her date when she saw Logan entering the quad with Dick's freaky younger brother.

Hearing the static that always preceded the announcements she sat back, a large smirk on her face that grew curious as to why Meg's co-anchor was speaking and not the blond.

"Starting with the junior court…" She began to pay attention as the kid looked at the paper in front of him and announced. Logan Echolls, John Enblom, Casey Gant, and Duncan Kane were the nominees. Madison was happy with that list; any of them would do as her king.

The cherry on the sundae would be taking Duncan Kane, the very boy that her ex-classmate and now felon Caitlin Ford was so determined to win for herself.

Hearing the list of seniors, Madison saw that Tad Wilson's friends were patting him on the back and for a second considered making a play for the boy she knew would be leaving in the fall for the Naval Academy.

"Now the part all of you ladies have been waiting for…" The idiot on the screen grinned at the camera. "Our junior homecoming court nominees are Madison Sinclair, Megan Manning, Veronica Mars and Cynthia Mackenzie."

Mac had just sat down with Veronica, both of them looking like they were facing the firing squad instead of hearing their names being announced for something most teenage girls would kill for.

Meg had entered the quad and seeing Veronica and Mac quickly hurried over to congratulate them, excited at the idea of the three them possibly attending as a group.

Wallace with an amused smirk pointed out that it was now impossible for them to skip out. For some reason he really didn't seem to get that they weren't very happy about the announcement. "So, want to go with Georgia and me?"

"Maybe we can all go together?" asked Meg who looking at Veronica softly added "Cole dumped me because I wouldn't sleep with him.

"So, how on earth did you end up nominated for Homecoming?" A smug Logan asked as he walked over to Veronica. "Do you think that they had a slut quota that needed filled?"

"Not really, my guess is that Madison filled that slot nicely." Veronica spat out.

Mac had done some checking and the IP address for whoever had put their names onto the court had been at the Echolls house the day before when they had hacked the school system.

"Touche." Logan said his brown eyes never leaving Veronica's face knowing that he had to keep up this façade of anger because Duncan was beginning to get suspicious. "So, let me guess, you are going to call Duncan, so that the two of you can attend together like last year? Wait, that didn't actually happen did it, instead you went out and partied all night."

"You should know, I seem to recall you in that limo. Wait, maybe you don't want to recall." Veronica said standing up to show she couldn't be intimidated. "After all isn't that the night Duncan and you shared your famous kiss. I do believe that tongue was involved."

Logan flushed then reminded her that they had been playing spin the bottle. "Besides, it was a choice of kissing a guy or you, French kissing my bff was the better end of the deal because who knows where your lips have been."

Mac saw Dick approaching. "Veronica we had better go if you still want to get that thing done before next bell."

Veronica looked at the boy who had once been her friend and said "Logan, I wish I could say it has been nice, but I would be lying. Oh, wait; maybe we do have a few minutes… I always wanted to see some boy on boy action and here comes your other boyfriend since Duncan looks a little busy. Dick will do anyone, and we all know that he shares everything."

With that, she crossed her arms and glared at the two boys. "Well, come on, we are waiting, with bated breath. Just give in, show us how it is done. Though, with Dick being taller, does that make him the guy and you the girl?"

His eyes now icing over, Logan said "I would rather kiss Dick than you, Veronica."

"Really, because I kind of thought he was as big of a slut as you claim she is. So wouldn't that kind of make them equal or are you holding Veronica to a higher standard." Mac pointed out. "Unless… well is little Dickie lying about all his so called experience. C'mon Logan, spill all the gossip. Well, we are waiting…"

Veronica wanted to just escape but something kept her standing there. Part of it was how good it felt that Mac was standing there defending her and the other part was her pride refusing to let Logan see how much his bringing up homecoming last year with Lilly bothered her.

XXX

Arriving at her dad's office, Veronica was still trying to wrap her mind around all that had gone down today. After the news she had been asked repeatedly by several different boys to attend homecoming with her.

She didn't take that too serious because since the 'news' about her supposed loose behavior she had had several offers of dates but the part that was truly surprising was that several girls had come up and said they would be voting for her and for Mac.

That they were glad there was a chance for someone other than a 09er to be Junior Homecoming Queen. When she had pointed out that that was more likely to be Meg than them, she had been even more astonished to realize that they believed that both of the girls were better choices.

Mac tended to be a loner, keeping herself apart from her classmates, but in truth, she was well liked in spite of frequently blowing the curve for the rest of them.

"Veronica?"

Looking up at her dad holding a bouquet of flowers, Veronica saw his smirk and asked. "Who called?"

"Lynn Echolls mentioned it when we discussed Trina's case." He replied as he handed them to his daughter. "So my beautiful daughter is part of the homecoming court, huh? I guess that means you actually have to attend the dance now, doesn't it?"

Veronica looked like a fish as she sat there, her lips moving but no words coming out.

"Veronica, I am a private investigator." He pointed out. "And rumors are I wasn't that bad of a sheriff before that. Did you really think you could keep me from finding out? I stayed silent because I understood about not wanting to be there. Now, what happens now?"

Moaning as she leaned in to smell the orchids, she said "We are attending, Meg Manning guilted us into going with her. So, it looks like Wallace gets to be a playa… he is the lucky boy with four dates."

"So, when are you going to look at gowns?" he asked with a slight smile when he saw her eyes widen as she realized she was going to have to wear a dress. "Yes, a dress."

Lifting her cell phone as she scowled at her dad, Veronica hit speed dial two and when she heard the distracted voice on the other end, she asked. "When do you want to go look at gowns?"

"Twelfth of never sounds about right. Since we can't escape this, how about tomorrow. I uh, have an idea I need to talk to you about." Mac replied. "It looks like someone at the Echolls house played with the votes, Veronica. You aren't going to believe this. You and I, we were second and third in voting but Madison wasn't fourth. Shelly was. And Logan wasn't on the boy's list."

"Oh, this is good." Veronica said. "Is there proof they altered the results. Proof we can take to Mr. Clemmons?"

"How would we explain my hacking into the system?" Mac sensibly asked. "The part that gets me is why make sure Madison made the list and not take us off of it if they are cheering her on?"

"So, maybe someone wanted to rub Madison's nose into our being nominated. Interesting, very interesting." I have to talk to my dad but I will meet you at Java at five." Veronica said as she hung up.

Keith then offered her money for her gown. "I have plenty dad. That is the best part of working my own cases." She said with a smile. "So, what do you need me to do today?"

"A bunch of background checks and I have a list of names from the Neptune Grande that I need you to check out." He offered. "Trina Echolls was meeting a man there a few weekends ago; he did a number on her so only research, nothing more."

Veronica began to run the names. Most checked out, but two guests paid in cash, both reserved the rooms without credit cards which by itself was strange and supposedly impossible in this now untrusting world.

Idly typing the first name into Google, she was amused to realize that the alias was the name Supreme Court Justice John Scalia. No one in the state with that name fit the description of the guest.

Tossing the printed sheets into a file, she ran the second name and wondered what sort of lame ass adult would use the name of William Windsor.

Reading the description, Veronica read that the guest had watched the Notebook on Pay per View. Reading the room service order, she was laughing when she saw that they had ordered a burger with a side of mushrooms and uncooked… oh crap, she knew someone that ate a burger like that but why would Duncan be staying at the Neptune Grande?

Leaving the folder for her dad, she wrote a note about the possibility of the one person being Duncan but with a joke below it, sure that he would never hurt Logan's sister.

XXX

Madison was furious as she entered her bedroom. Throwing her book bag onto the floor she slammed the door shut after Shelly had sat down on her bed. "I want to know how that bitch got herself onto the court. That should have been you, not Slutty McSlut or her tag along geek friend."

Shelly was quiet, not sure how to tell Madison that she had heard from one of the younger cheerleaders that Ms Dent and Mr. Rook were the two who nominated Veronica and that geek girl.

"I know you know something, so just tell me." She snapped as she sank down onto the carpet.

"Mr. Dent and that computer teacher nominated the geek. I heard it was in sympathy for what happened a few weeks ago." She said. "As for Veronica… well it was Ms. Dent and Mr. Clemmons."

"After I baked him a pie. How could he, I should have been the person he nominated, I am never in trouble. I have never been sent to his office and frankly, I deserve it more than either of them. Neither of those girls has ever shown any school spirit." She said fuming as she tried to figure out what had gone so wrong.

"Well at least you know you will win." Shelly tried to offer up.

"Like there was any doubt about that before." Madison snapped as she looked at Shelly. "Who else would anyone vote for?"

Shelly looked at her best friend and said "You know, Madison sometimes it is very difficult being your friend. What about me, I might have won or maybe Meg, you aren't Lilly, Maddy."

With that the other girl stood, wiped the tears from her eyes when she heard Madison scoff and say as if under her breath. Picking up her purse, Shelly said. "I have to go and get a dress."

"I thought we were going together. I told you I wanted to see what you got." Madison snapped.

"Why, so you can talk me out of buying a gown that would make me look prettier than you like you did last year." Shelly said as she walked to the door. "By the way, John Enblom invited me to be his date and we are taking his Jag so you need to find someone else to share that Limo with you."

XXX

Celeste saw Jake entering the dining room with Duncan. After her husband had asked her son to create a video memorial to his sister, she was shocked when he didn't even flinch before telling them he would take care of it.

"I copied all of the family movies onto a thumb drive earlier." Jake said handing over the small bright blue stick. "The school has arranged for the ceremony on Friday."

Celeste looked at Duncan and said "Remember, make it tasteful, show the world who your sister really was."

Jake turned to look at his wife, he had wanted something that showed all parts of their child, but she refused to let Lilly be remembered in any way that might hurt Duncan's future.

When her husband ate then quickly left, Celeste frowned sure that he was hurrying off to meet his latest mistress. It wasn't the first and she was sure it wouldn't be the last but Celeste no longer cared, her only cause in life was her son, was making Duncan into the man he was meant to be.

XXX

The next day, Duncan frowned as he looked at the digital images on the screen. Unlike what his parents thought, Duncan barely had any computer skills, he hated that he had been asked to do this and wanted to find someone, anyone to finish it for him.

Seeing that computer geek girl who was friends with Veronica, he hid his smile. Maybe if she saw the tapes she would realize she was inconsequential to the future of one Veronica Mars someday to be Kane.

When she agreed to do that job for him in exchange for cash, Duncan hid his sneer but quickly promised to pay her four hundred dollars to put together the video tribute to his late sister.

Mac asked what his parents had wanted and he frowned then said "They want to show the world who Lilly was but in a tasteful manner."

Mac looked at the small scenes on the screen and said. "I think I can handle it."

Logan had been walking down the hallway when he had heard Lilly's voice and came back to the entrance of the small computer lab. Hearing what was going on, he felt sick when he heard the words coming out of his blond friend's voice on the screen. She was joking around with Duncan about school and it was reminding him off all things left unfinished by her death.

"Good." Duncan stated as he then walked out of the room towards Logan, but stopping at the doorway said "I need it finished by Thursday."

"What's going on?" Logan asked as they walked towards the library.

"Celeste and Jake want a video to be shown at the memorial on Friday." Duncan said. "I hired the geek to make it for me."

After making plans for their trip the following weekend and joking about the homecoming dance, Logan quickly split off from Duncan and went to find Mac.

Thankfully she was still in the lab and after shutting the door, Logan watched for a few minutes as Mac was working on the tribute. "Hallmark Commercial, yeah, that was Lilly."

Turning, Mac asked. "What do you want, Logan?"

"Here." Sitting down at another terminal, Logan typed in his pass codes then asked Mac's email address. "I uh, made this last year. It was uh, Veronica's camera actually."

"The one you destroyed a week after Lilly's death?" Mac asked with a sneer.

Silent for a moment, Logan said "Things happened that can never be taken back. I know that, but Lilly, what happened, she regretted it."

Mac was silent as she received the video jpegs. Logan stood then looking at the girl working on the computer said "There were reasons, reasons still being kept silent. I don't hate Veronica."

"You might have some luck convincing yourself, but not most of the student body." Mac said then thanking him for the video asked if she could give it to Veronica.

"It's done; I don't care what you do with it." Logan lied before leaving the lab. In the locker room where he had been heading originally, he saw Casey and John talking and quickly joined them.

As they talked about the dance, Logan mentioned he was going solo, that he planned to only be there to please his parents but that Dick and he were leaving immediately afterwards.

"Shelly will want to stay to the end, but at least I won't have to deal with Madison." John crowed in happiness. Seeing them looking, he filled the other two in on the break up of the friendship. "Hopefully it will last until at least Monday."

"I am going solo." Casey said with a smirk. "I intend to find a beautiful babe who will be so grateful for my attention that she falls all over me and falls right out of her gown."

"Well if that doesn't work for you, Dick and I are going to Balboa Beach with a few bottles." Logan offered as they went to play volleyball.

XXX

Mac slid into the seat across from Veronica and filled her in on what she was doing for Duncan and what Logan had given her. "So, do I do what Mrs. Kane wanted or do I make the video truly Lilly?"

"Did Duncan pay you yet?"

Mac reached into her pocket and pulled out the bills. "I saw him after school, he looked at what I already have done and offered to pay me on the spot. We walked to his car and he gave me the money right then before driving off. He offered up another hundred if I could get the finished product to him tomorrow."

"Wow, how did you have time already?" Veronica asked.

"Rook and the scholastic team left today for the competition, so I had that class free all week since they won't come back until Saturday hours before the homecoming dance. It's not that hard to do if I make it a Hallmark Moment." Mac said with a smirk.

"Give Duncan the Hallmark video." Veronica said. At one point she would have fought hard to make the video more Lilly but now Veronica had come to accept that it had been Lilly who had ended their long friendship without ever giving her a reason. That she had done nothing wrong.

Mac agreed then suggested that they head out to find dresses. Running into several of their classmates at the shops, neither girl had found what they were looking for by the time they had entered the last shop downtown.

"Its amazing who they will let into these stores." Madison sneered when she saw the two girls. "Mother, let's go, if they can afford to be anything in here, clearly this is the wrong shop for us."

"Madison, we don't have time to go to LA, this is the last shop in town." Mrs. Sinclair's harried voice was coming from the other side of the dress shop. "Besides, you liked this gown when we first got here."

"Veronica, Mac." Turning to greet Meg, Mac missed seeing the dark haired woman staring at the trio and looking sad as they hugged each other.

"So, any luck?" Meg asked.

"No, we have had no luck finding a gown, what about you?" Veronica answered. "I know what I want, I just can't find it."

"Meg's dress was probably made by sewing birds after being cut out by mice and her fairy godmother poofed up a matching pair of glass slippers." Mac teased.

With a slight blush, Meg admitted that her gown did have a fairy tale princess vibe. "I just need to find a wrap to match."

"I have no idea why I am doing this. I can think of a lot more exciting things to spend this money on. A new hard drive would be great and practical, the latest computer game system or even my car." Mac moaned. "Why oh why did I have to end up nominated. If I find out which teachers put my name in, I am going to flunk their class, deliberately."

Meg laughed in disbelief then said "Well what kind of dress do you want? What color? Strapless, spaghetti straps or maybe backless?"

"Something I won't trip in, something I won't fall out of and something that doesn't scream thank you for the country music award." Mac replied.

"So I guess that means no sequins?" Veronica teased.

"I swear I am missing the girlie girl gene." Mac moaned as they began to look at the dresses on the racks. Lifting up a light pink gown with ruffles, she shuddered and said "No way in hell."

"See, you need to look at gowns that are you." Meg said practically. "Veronica, I think you need something in…. maybe blue to match your eyes."

The blonde's mind was on the past, the last homecoming dance and how Lilly had tried to get her to wear a red dress but how she had gone with a soft buttercup.

The girl she had been last year couldn't stand the idea of being noticed like that, of being thought fast, this Veronica, well she was sure that someone was up to something, so she would wear what she wanted… and she wanted red.

"Red." She said decisively. "I want red."

"Red for a whore." Madison whispered as she carried the beautiful white gown to the back to try on. "It suits you."

"Hey Mac?" Veronica looked at her friend then asked "What were the names of Cinderella's evil stepsisters?"

"Anastasia and Drizella." Mac promptly replied.

"Thanks." Veronica replied then looking at Madison asked "So, who are you going with?"

"None of your business." She snapped.

"Okay, just trying to be polite." Veronica said holding her hands up as if she was trying to placate Madison. "So, in other words, you don't have a date do you, Drizella?"

"I do so have a date, I am going with Duncan." She replied with a smug grin. "He asked me after school today in the parking lot."

"Oh goodie." Veronica said as she recalled what Mac had told her earlier about Duncan and her walking out of school together. "Now, be sure to dress as conservatively as possible since Celeste likes Duncan's girls to be chaste."

"Well we both know you aren't that." Madison snarked.

"Madison, anyone who has had sex with Dick in exchange for the use of his credit card to by a Gucci purse, should be careful. You do know the saying about people in glass houses throwing stones don't you?" Veronica asked quietly so that the blonde's clearly deluded mom didn't hear her.

XXX

After a search of the entire store, neither girl had found what they were looking for. About to give up, Veronica saw Carmen Ruiz waving her over from outside the store.

"No luck with a gown for Saturday?" she asked.

"Nope, either they were too outrageous or too girlie." She said. "Mac and I don't want too much, just a nice dress without breaking our pocket books."

"Well have you tried South Coast Vintage?" Carmen asked. Seeing that Veronica seemed clueless, Carmen said. "Its just past Pan, I shop there when I need something really nice. It's a consignment shop where rich women from Santa Barbara sell off their gowns once they wear them. Its how I can afford the nice outfits I wear."

"Thanks." Veronica said and seeing Meg and Mac leaving the shop asked if they were up for a road trip. Forty minutes later, they parked outside the very unassuming shop and quickly entered a different world.

"Oh my god." Meg said as she looked wide eyed around at the various expensive outfits all with very reasonable price tags. "How did I not know about this place?"

When the sale girl entering, Veronica explained that they were there to find dresses for Homecoming, the woman smiled and directed them to a side room. "All we have are in there. Shoes and bags are there and in the main room. And jewelry is in the small area with the locked drawers."

Meg was walking to the back when her phone rang. "Hi Mom, am still shopping with Veronica and Mac."

"Fine, but don't forget you have to baby-sit for the Morgan's this evening." She was reminded. "Did you have any luck finding a coat?"

Meg said that she was still looking then after hanging up told the two girls how her mom was insisting she needed a jacket this weekend. "It's why I asked if we could all get ready at your house, Veronica. It gets me out of my mom trying to bundle me up like an Eskimo."

At the first rack, Veronica dismissed the dark colored dresses in spite of thinking that black would be perfect if she couldn't find a red dress when she saw two dresses hanging on a rack off to the side.

The single shoulder dresses were identical in every single way except coloring. One was a dark green but the other was a deep purple dress. It was the beading on the waist of the purple dress that had caught her eye as they had entered.

"Oh my!" Meg gasped when Veronica held up the dark green gown with the Dior label. "Its beautiful, you have to try that on."

"I would if I had the breasts to carry it off." Veronica said ruefully then turning to her third friend who had remained silent went to hold the gown out to her. "Mac?"

"No, no way in h-e-l-l, Veronica Mars." Mac said backing away from her crazy blond friend. "I have done a lot of things in the last year I wouldn't have, but wearing that, uh uh, not going to happen. I don't have the legs to wear that kind of slit. And my boobs aren't much larger than yours!"

"Just put it with the ones you are going to try on." Meg coaxed as she lifted the dark purple colored one as well. After gathering a couple more dresses for Mac, mainly to placate the now mulish brunette they soon began looking on the rack with the red dresses for Veronica.

Neither blond had found anything even close to acceptable when Mac held up a dress more burgundy than red and announced. "This dress screams Veronica Mars!"

Turning, Meg began to ooh and moved closer to where Mac was holding up the ball length strapless chiffon dress. "She's right, you have to try this one on."

Looking at the size, Veronica saw it should fit and then impulsively grabbing a few others in her size suggested that they move towards the dressing rooms.

With help from the room attendant both girls had each now tried on three gowns but with less than spectacular results. "Okay Mars, we want to see it on you."

Grinning a bit at the pushiness of Meg, Veronica went to try on her favorite. Seeing it was Vera Wang, she winced knowing that the cost is was more than likely going to take her entire dress budget she still had the attendant zip the dress up.

Leaving the dressing room, she looked into the mirror and the surprise on her friend's faces then said softly "This is it. It's perfect."

"It so is. I can't believe I am going to sell that gown. I thought for sure it would remain on the rack forever." Said the sales girl who had come back to see if she could prep up any accessories.

Meg turned worried that there was something wrong with the dress and asked why she thought she would never sell it.

"Its just we don't sell a lot of petite dresses here, I wasn't sure about taking it on but clearly I was wrong." She said happily.

"Okay Mac, it's your turn." Meg said while happily holding up the dark green Dior dress.

"Oh, she should try the purple dress; the coloring would be perfect on her."

Mac was reluctant to try on either dress but going grudgingly into the dressing room, she was soon sliding the chiffon up over her hips and letting the clasp be fastened that kept her gown up.

Moments later, standing in front of the mirror, she was about to point out the dress was too long when the sales clerk came back into the room. "Here, try these on with it."

The Grecian sandals had a three inch heel but to Mac's shock they were oddly comfortable.

With a knowing grin, the clerk explained. "They have a water cushioned insole. It's why super models can wear heels like they do all day long."

Meg walked over and lifted Mac's hair so that it was held on top of her head and said "A pair of earrings and maybe a couple of thick bracelets. And best news of all, I just saw that it comes with a matching wrap."

"I can't buy this; I would never wear it again." Mac moaned even as the chiffon flowed through her fingers.

"But you want to and it is perfect." Meg said as if it was already settled. "Mac, this is going to cost less than half what you would have paid in Neptune for a dress from Madame Pompous."

"I thought it was Pompeadu." Veronica said slightly distracted as she tried on the shoes the clerk had offered her.

"It is." Meg said with a slight grin that still was filled with guilt at the idea of making fun of anyone.

Paying for their dresses and the accessories they had found, the three girls headed back to town, Meg to babysit and Veronica to help Mac finish the video for Duncan.

XXX

Duncan locked his bedroom door, letting his parents think he was working on the video memorial for Lilly. Seated on his bed, he quickly called Troy. "When are we heading to Mexico?"

"Early morning after Homecoming," Troy said even as he got dressed. Ignoring the Pan High school girl he had just slept with, he asked Duncan who he was taking to the big dance.

"Shit, I have to take a date, don't I?" Duncan complained. "I guess I will call Shelly."

"Too late, I heard she is going with Enblom." Troy offered. "I am going with Carrie Bishop, What about that Manning girl? I heard she broken up with Cole."

Perking up, Duncan hung up and called Meg. After talking to her about school and the latest poetry assignment he got around to the real reason he was calling. "So, I was thinking since you don't have date for Homecoming, I would pick you up at seven."

"I thought you had a date?" Meg asked.

"I do, with you. So anyhow, I was thinking, I would pick you up and we could do the thing with the parents at my house. You should choose a fairly conservative gown, after everything Lilly put my parents though…"

Duncan listened in disbelief as Meg told him she had plans and didn't intend to cancel them to go out with him. When she had hung up, he started to toss his phone, but recalling what his mother said, regained control and sat there going through his phone contacts.

After being turned down, at least a few times reluctantly, he called Madison Sinclair. When she said yes, then began to dictate where they should eat and what color matching bow tie he should wear, Duncan began to regret asking her but he thought about his plans and knew he had to placate his parents before this weekend.

Agreeing with Madison's plans was the quickest way to get his parents to relax, if they thought he was over Veronica, they would relax their guard and he might be able to get free of these drugs.

Heading downstairs, he played it casual with his father and soon had him agreeing to let him use the limo after telling him he had a date to the dance this weekend. "Duncan, who is the girl?"

"Madison." Duncan answered as casually as he could while looking at his anxious parents.

"Madison Sinclair, her dad is a partner in a law firm in San Diego. She used to be friends with Lilly until Veronica and Lilly became best friends." He lied.

XXX

"Uh, Duncan I already have my dress and I don't intend to change my plans." Meg said a bit annoyed with his tone of voice as she listened in disbelief as her classmate tried to order her around.

Meg quickly got off the phone and went back to her baby sitting job. When the little kids' parents got home, after avoiding the usual offer to come party on the dad's boat, she hurried home and began her school work.

Her mind still whirling, Meg pulled a Lizzy and slipped out of the house. Driving down to the docks and pulling into a spot midway between the vacant spots and some vehicles, she saw Logan Echolls very distinctive SUV pulled next to Dick Casablancas' Hummer.

Ducking down so that she couldn't be seen when she realized that they were heading her way, she heard the sound of a motorbike and hoped she wouldn't be caught between her two very loud classmates and the PCHers.

Her ears perking up, she listened as Logan said to someone. "You're late; we were just about to head home."

XXX

"Sorry, man. Got held up. You know how it is, chicks." Weevil had no intention of letting them know that what had held him up was his two nephews. They had wanted his help putting together their newest lego creation.

"Well worry about getting laid on your own time." Dick snapped. "Besides, why should be you be getting some when thanks to this idiotic plan of Lilly's, I haven't had sex since Mexico. I am getting pretty sick of my hand."

"Seriously? You offer up, way too much information, dickwad." Weevil said as he grimaced at the idea of not having sex for over ten months.

"You two leave your sex lives out of this." Logan said. "I uh, WE actually might have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Weevil asked.

"You aren't going to believe this one. My dad's movie, it was pushed back a few weeks because the directors wife went into labor and now, my dad has decided that we need some father son bonding time. He has decided to join us on the surfing trip."

"Shit and that idiot Vandergraff will still try to bring the drugs in, he will think with your dad there…" Weevil's voice trailed off as he got how bad this could be.

XXX

Meg was stunned. Logan and Dick along with Weevil were involved in drug dealing?

"So much for our plan of getting him busted, dude." Dick moaned. "Man there are days that I wish Lilly was still alive. I would kill her myself."

There was an agreeing chuckle from the other two that now had Meg sick to her stomach.

"You boys know why this plan went to hell, don't you?"

In shock at hearing Mr. Echolls very famous voice, Meg was vowing to never leave home again as she was now shaking when she heard the older man's footsteps moving closer to the three boys and the sound of all three of them saying ouch.

Really, really wishing that Veronica or Mac was here, Meg just wanted to stick her fingers in her ears and say la-la-la so that she wouldn't hear what she thought was a meeting of co-conspirators.

XXX

Earlier that evening….

"I just don't feel comfortable doing this, Lynn."

"I don't either but you have to admit, all the signs of Logan doing drugs are there. You saw that bong, Aaron, we can't keep burying our head in the sand and act like there is nothing wrong with our son." Lynn said. "Not with the history of alcoholism in my family."

"He says that Veronica planted that, Lynn. Even Mr. Clemmons agreed that it might have been possible that that was nothing more than a prank gone wrong." Aaron said. "He's always been a good kid, Lynn. And the drug tests we ran came back negative."

"Yes, but-"

"I know, I read the pamphlet too." Aaron said hoping that they were wrong but knowing that they couldn't just ignore the possibility. It's why he had invited himself onto his son's surfing trip that weekend.

"Number one was visual evidence. We have both commented on his blood shot eyes and his sudden hyperactivity. And he is also drinking a lot for a boy his age." Lynn pointed out.

"Yes and you are right, he has been very moody. With Lilly's death though, I just think that with his girlfriend dying…"

"Aaron, sometimes, I wonder about you." Lynn said annoyed with her husband. "I don't know what was going on with Lilly and Logan, but I assure you, it wasn't the way a boy treats his girlfriend."

"I know that you think he liked Veronica, but sometimes Lynn, things aren't always what they look like." Aaron stated as he sat down on his son's bed. "I just think that he really liked Lilly but thought she was too old for him."

"Aaron, our son started acting out viciously against the very girl he had a crush on from the age of twelve. I have seen it personally and heard about it from others. Even if they had just been friends, Logan's behavior changed too drastically. I heard him talking to her after Lilly's death, I heard him almost pleading with her, then mere minutes later he was acting as if she didn't exist."

"Have you ever considered that Logan became belligerent because of normal teenage angst, that maybe Veronica broke his heart?" Aaron asked.

"What about his late nights, Aaron. How do you excuse those away?" Lynn asked as she went through her son's dresser drawers. "What about his lack of appetite. His grades have dropped, not a lot but enough that is noticeable. I spoke to Celeste to see if there was a problem with Duncan and she admitted that it is rare to see the two boys together more than once a month anymore at their house. They used to be inseparable."

"Okay, you have me there." Aaron admitted. "I have noticed that. When I asked Logan about Duncan he said that they are just traveling down different roads now so I let it go."

"Then there is the call from your banker. Logan took out ten thousand dollars from his trust account. He has never taken out that kind of funds." Lynn said now getting fretful in spite of finding nothing odder than a cache of Chinese fortune's from cookies in her son's dresser.

Lifting his head from the bed, Aaron asked what on earth she had in her hand.

Showing them to Aaron, she asked. "Do you suppose he meets his dealer at a Chinese restaurant that is a front for a drug dealer?"

"Lynn you watch way too many movies." Aaron said chuckling.

"You aren't taking this serious enough." His wife said her hands on her hips as she glared at her husband. "We both have gotten repeated calls from the school, he has been avoiding us and Trina said that she has been trying to reach him for days too."

"Yes but he hasn't been spending money in access except for this ten thousand he withdrew, Lynn. His school attendance is much better and you yourself has told me that he gets up without you having to wake him an hour after his alarm has gone off." Aaron pointed out.

"What about his secretive behavior, Aaron." Lynn said then ignored her husband as she methodically searched the whole room and found nothing more than some porn and a rather crude drawing of the current Sheriff as a jackass.

"Not his best work." Aaron said as he hid his need to smile as his wife glared at him. He knew that telling her he thought she was sexy right now would get him slapped upside the head, so Aaron got off the bed so that she could search it. "You do know that you are going to have to put his room back together. Logan hates when the maids come in here and you made the mess. What is it you always tell him, if he makes the mess, he has to clean it?"

"Oh be quiet." Lynn scolded and playfully pushed him away when her husband tried to kiss her.

Aaron pretended to stumble and fell back planning on landing on the wing back chair behind him, but instead he fell a little to the left and landed on the floor with his hand smacking the air vent.

Lynn quickly turned to make sure he was alright but instead of his normal famous grin, she saw his face turn pale and hold up a screw driver.

"What?"

Aaron was silent, he had once told his son about his hiding spot for his mother's jewelry presents after they had caught Lynn sneaking around the house two Christmas' ago.

Lifting the bright yellow and black Stanley screwdriver, Aaron removed the screws that came out quite easily. "I told him where I hide your presents. I never thought…"

Aaron removed the vent, sank down on his knees and began to pull out what his son kept hidden. Finding the small box, he lifted the lid and saw not drugs but videos. Each one neatly labeled and a letter that on the front of it was addressed to Veronica Mars with the words I am sorry written on the flap "What the hell?"

Internally debating what to do, Aaron was about to watch the videos when he saw the leather bond book still inside the vent with the girlish handwriting.

Pulling it out, he saw that it had belonged to Lilly Kane. "What on earth has our son been up to?"

Sitting down on the chair, Lynn took one of the earlier dated videos and slipped it into their son's media equipment.

There was silence as Aaron and Lynn sat there disbelieving what they were seeing and hearing. When they put in the second dvd then the third, Lynn lifted the book and opened it. Reading what was labeled the plan; she closed her eyes and mentally scolded all four of the idiots then with tears, handed it over to her husband.

Reading what was on the front page, Aaron used his skills honed from years of skimming scripts to quickly go through the entire book then look back at his son on the screen before it panned to Lilly Kane, Dick Casablancas and for some reason their housekeepers grandson.

"Oh my god, how on earth did these four think they were going to pull this off? And more importantly why didn't they come to one of us?" Lynn said her knees shaking as she sat there.

Aaron was fingering the note book and knew that they had to get this to Sher—er, to Keith Mars but how without shocking him with the news his daughter might not be his. "I think I need to speak to Logan before we do anything else."

XXX

Back in the moment-

Aaron glared at the three stooges and couldn't resist saying "You boys know why this plan went to hell, don't you?"

Seeing their shock, the actor gently smacked all three of them upside the head and fought the urge to hug his son in front of his friends as he added. "The reason this went to hell is because you conspired with the wrong person. Logan, I watched the four of you, Veronica, Lilly, Duncan and yourself closely over the years, glad you had such good friends but you each had your own part to play and strategy wasn't yours or Lilly's part."

"Lilly or you would come up with the plans and Veronica usually was the one who figured out how to execute them without getting caught. I always thought that Duncan's job was to be extra cautious, now I realize that Veronica did that part too."

When they began to speak, Aaron glared them into silence then said "Your mother and I tracked where you are via a chip in your phone."

"You bugged my phone?" Logan asked furious with his dad.

"We thought you were lying about abusing drugs." Aaron answered. "Oh course we chipped you, any good parent would."

"Mine wouldn't, he would just give me the cash and tell me not to get arrested." Dick unwisely replied.

"I said good parent, Richard. Frankly your father needs his ass kicked to get out of his mid life crisis." Aaron retorted. "Now, as I was saying before my son rudely interrupted me… Your mother and I searched your room."

"YOU WHAT!" Logan howled in anger as he began to pace back and forth in front of his father and complain about the invasion of his privacy and how he thought his parents were better than that.

"You lost any right to complain the moment you didn't tell us what the hell was going on, Logan!" Aaron retorted. "You should know, I was against it at first, but after watching those videos and reading Lilly's notebook."

"YOU HAD NO RIGHT, NONE."

"Logan…" Aaron counted to ten, reminded himself that the three young men hadn't been out to harm anyone but had done all of this in a misguided effort to protect someone that they cared about dearly. "You went about this the wrong way. I get that you thought you were doing what you thought was right, but you have no idea how much you hurt Veronica."

"YOU THINK I DON''T KNOW HOW BADLY I HURT Veronica?" Logan asked his dad, his eyes showing his pain. "I AM THE ONE WHO HAS HAD TO LIVE WITH THIS every single fucking day for the last year. I am the one who has had nightmares about the day we tell her truth and how she will react. ME DAD, NOT YOU, NOT MOM, NO ONE ELSE."

"Logan…" Dick tried to calm his best friend but he quickly turned on him and snarled. "Look we all screwed this up, not just you."

"Yeah right, like it will make that much of a difference in your life, you get to go back to screwing anything that you can. Weevil gets to go back to being the bad ass biker. What do I get out of this, other than making sure that Duncan can't harm Veronica? Tell me what do I get at the end of this. I lost any chance… any fucking…"

Aaron caught his son as he fell, beginning to realize the emotional toll that this had had on his son. That the very things Lynn and he had noticed were still true, that their son was still falling apart as Logan in a dead tone of voice continued to speak

"Lilly told me it would be hard, I just laughed it off, saying that in the end she would forgive me. She HATES me and I caused that." He said as he sat there on the parking lot.

"Logan, Lilly wrote V a letter, I know it ain't much but…"

"Fuck Lilly, I should have never listened to her." Logan said bitterly.

"Why did you, I read what is going on, but please explain to me how ostracizing Veronica helped save her from this, Logan?" Aaron asked genuinely confused as to what these kids had thought they were doing. "From the sounds of it, all of this is just conjecture, maybe it isn't the truth."

"Uh, dude, it doesn't change things, not really." Dick said awkwardly. "Cause Ronnie doesn't like Duncan and Duncan really, really likes Ronnie. You didn't see him dude, the night he attacked his dad. It was ugly stuff."

"But surely…"

"Sir." Weevil held up his hand to forestall him from speaking and said "Sir, uh, we had tests ran, its true. Uh, Logan got samples and it is true."

"Fuck." Aaron replied almost stuttering as he looked at his son then asked. "Logan, did any one think to tell Veronica about this?"

"We can't. See, Ronnie has just about the perfect dad." Dick said still watching as Logan sat there, starring at his hands. "He is always, always there; he is normal dude, what most of us secretly want for a dad. She adores him and it wouldn't be fair to take that away. Sides, it's a mute point."

"Moot." Aaron corrected.

"Mute, moot. It doesn't matter. Even if it wasn't true and Veronica liked Duncan we couldn't allow them to date, sir." Weevil said. "Duncan is dangerous, sir. We know he drugged her at least once, but have no real proof, he also is a viable suspect in Cindy Mackenzies being tied up and almost drown."

"Duncan, Duncan Kane?" Aaron asked almost not wanting to believe them. The Kane kid was a kiss ass, a smart kid who lives to please his parents and yet the boy that they were describing didn't fit with that mold.

"Dude, get over this idea of Duncan being harmless, he tried to rape Ronnie!" Dick burst out with the information that they had long kept secret. "If it wasn't for my little bro getting drunk for the first time at a party last year, and bursting in on them, Duncan would have raped Veronica. He ain't a good guy!"

"Why didn't you go to the police?" Aaron asked "Or her dad?"

"Seriously, are you as dumb as those characters you play dude?" Dick asked sick of secrets and lies and he just laid it on the line. "The Kanes know that it is a possibility that Duncan killed Lilly. They covered it up. What do you think they would do if they thought he attacked Vee, you think that they would let him go to jail. Maybe Mr. Kane would, but his ice queen, yeah, not likely."

"Sir, we uh, we realize we are in over our heads, right now, we are just trying to stay above the water line, until we can find a way to keep protecting her. Cause if we go against Duncan it creates a war and we don't know which side our friends will fall on and that leave Ronnie in danger, big danger dude."

Aaron looked at them and realized that they truly believed all of this to be true. Leaning against the side of his son's SUV, he asked quietly "We are going to go home, tomorrow all of us are meeting at my house after school and this is going to be talked out. No more of this hiding. Dick are you spending the night?"

"Nah, I left Beaver at home alone, he needs me to take him to school tomorrow." Dick said.

"Okay go to school then be at my house by four. All of you that are involved in this misguided plan." Aaron said then looking at Weevil saw the boy nod in his direction and head out.

When it was just Logan, Aaron sank down in front of his son and looked into his eyes. "You love her, don't you? Veronica not Lilly?"

Logan had sat there, his mind going over everything that had been done over the last several months and said "It doesn't matter, when this is over, I want to go to Norwich. I wish to god I never moved to Neptune."

"And do what, Logan. Ignore the pain, ignore that you love this girl. It's gonna suck but give it time. Give her time to realize that you and the others meant well." He said feeling old as he helped his son up. "Leave your car here tonight, I will drive us home."

As they were backing out of the parking lot across from the beach, Aaron saw the non-descript car out of the corner of his eye. Normally used to being on the watch for paparazzi, he stiffened until he saw the profile of the driver.

He didn't know her name but he recognized the blond as a student at his son's school. A police and kind young girl he had agreed to be interviewed by for the school television station.

At home that night, he saw Trina slipping into the house, moving stiffly as she slipped up to her room. Aaron waited until he was sure she was asleep and went to check on her. Seeing she had left a light on, Aaron gasped and backed out, the latest bruises on her body worse than the ones from the week before.

XXX

Meg settled into her bed, her mind reeling even more than before she had gone to the beach. She didn't know the whole story but she did know enough that tomorrow she would have to spend the day avoiding her friends because at four o'clock tomorrow, she totally intended to be at the Echoll's house giving Logan, Eli and Dick a piece of her mind….

XXX

Early the next morning, before Logan was even up, Aaron slipped out of bed and went to make some visits. He hated to do this so publicly but clearly keeping thins silent had not worked.

Calling his wife, he found out she had taken care of the other calls and then had made sure that Trina was on her way to LA. Lynn had begged her old agent to talk to Trina about a possible jog. Hopefully it would be enough to keep her out of the house…

XXX

Keith slipped into the hotel room at the Grand and removed the bug he had hidden in the hotel suite. Taking it home, he was loading the footage when he got the call. Agreeing to meet the Echolls, he said "I know who hurt her. I have the footage on my computer right now."

Hanging up, Keith's hands were shaking as he made a call of his own. "We need to talk."

XXX

Vinnie Van Lowe handed his client the file and said "As you see, the two girls were switched at birth. It was hospital error; the nurse involved was having an affair with a young plastic surgeon and had left her post. When she returned, she was in a hurry and made a mistake."

"Thank you, Mr. Van Lowe. And the two girls…"

"Madison Sinclair and Cindy Mackenzie." He said smoothly as he handed over the results he had just paid for. "However, neither are a match…"

XXX

Celeste entered the small office at an ungodly hour and looked at the doctor who was blackmailing her. Fifteen minutes later when the police responded to shots fired at a local doctor's office, the witness described the woman he saw fleeing as a thin blond driving an old Volvo.

Sheriff Lamb dismissed the case as a drug addict stealing from her well respected physician and went to tell Mrs. Griffith that her husband was dead.

All over Neptune secrets were being exposed, setting up a collision course that was going to meet… at the Homecoming dance.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I can't believe how long this got, so the memorial and homecoming is the next chapter. However Veronica learns the truth, but you don't get how she really feels about it until the next chapter.

Over Their Heads

Chapter Five

Mac hurried into the school, wanting to turn over the DVD to Duncan. Seeing the tall boy, she felt that eerie oddness that she had been sensing around him since last year and fought against her instincts that were telling her to get away from her classmate.

"Are you done?" He asked as he held out his hand for the package in hers. "That quickly?"

"Yes, do you want to look at it?" She asked as she sat her computer down and opened it up. Her mind kept trying to tell her body that this was Duncan Kane, the least threatening of the 09ers as she put in the DVD.

Duncan watched the seven minute video, thanked her and then handed over the extra hundred dollars he had offered for her to get it done that day. "Thanks, and please tell no one that you did this."

"Logan Echolls saw us on Monday." She reminded him as she saw Cassidy Casablancas crossing the pathway looking peeved as he went into the building.

"I meant my parents." Duncan stiffly replied. "Are you going to be at the ceremony?"

"Probably." Mac answered then mentioned she was there to meet with Ms. James before school and that she had to go.

*LoVe*

Duncan watched her go then went to his locker to get his books for his make up test for AP History. Quickly finishing the open book test, he left the classroom just in time to see Madison arriving.

"Duncan, we need to make plans." Madison said as a greeting. "Where do you want to go for dinner? I prefer French or New American cuisine, not Italian."

"How about Wolfgang Puck's new place in Santa Barbara, my dad is an investor." Duncan suggested. When the blond smiled widely, he continued. "I already arranged for the limo, my tuxedo is at the dry cleaners, its tailored so the tie will be the normal black."

"Designer?" Madison queried.

"Mom had it ordered." Duncan said promptly not really understanding the interest in who created his outfit but his mother had felt it was equally important that morning at breakfast.

*LoVe*

Logan got out of the passenger seat of his Mother's Mercedes convertible and carelessly waved good-bye when she beeped the horn and then greeted a waiting Dick. "I thought you had to bring Cassidy to school today?"

"It's makeup day for tests, little bro missed a French test at the beginning of the year." Dick said as he munched on his pop tart. There was a rare hardness to his tone as he continued. "When we got here, we saw Duncan talking with Mac."

"The memorial video she worked on for him. He needed something so I wasn't worried that he would hurt her." Logan muttered knowing that Dick felt protective of the girl Logan had barely known existed a year before. "Dad said to remind you to be at the house after school."

"I remember, but what about our tuxes?" Dick said thinking about the plan they have in play. The last thing they wanted was for Duncan to be around Veronica without them there. "Mine hasn't been cleaned since dad dragged us to some dinner. I was supposed to drop it off today."

"What about your housekeeper?" Logan asked as they entered the school.

"Almost ex-stepmom fired her right before dad went 0ut of town. We have a maid coming in twice a week but no one else." Dick said. "I have had to feed Beaver."

"Poor kid." Logan said and seeing Dick muttering about how he was put upon, Logan couldn't resist adding. "I was talking about Beaver. You had better bring him over, so that he isn't starved to death before you dad gets home."

"Hey, I didn't burn anything yet." Dick protested then seeing Veronica pulling in suggested that they get out of eye view. "Besides, we have the takeout menus for every restaurant in town."

*LoVe*

Veronica had had a quiet morning, other than a voice mail from Meg saying that she had had a late night and would see her later that day. Mac had been rushing around dealing with her assignments and spending her new free period trying to do something that she promised to explain later on.

"Hey, Veronica." Wallace was smiling when he saw his best friend heading for the quad with a brown bag. "Mac said that you needed some company at lunch."

Settling in across from her, he sat down his tray and grimaced at what looked like warmed over pizza. "So what is Mac up to?"

"I am not sure, maybe world domination or controlling the Internet." Veronica said then added. "She is determined to get a new car."

"So, Homecoming." He offered the word up, hoping to get some sort of response. "Why do I think that there is something more to this than your usual reluctance to have Pirate Pride."

With a sad smile, Veronica said. "This time last year, things seemed so perfect in my life. It was the last event we all attended together, Duncan, Lilly, Logan and myself. Things have changed so much, Wallace and I still don't know the real reason why. Part of me still misses my friendships."

Wallace didn't get that, he had heard enough stories about the week after homecoming the year before, how Lilly Kane had suddenly turned on her best friend, how Logan and Lilly had suddenly ostracized her from their little group. How Duncan had been just as bad by ignoring all three of them.

Then the death of Lilly, how Jake Kane had gotten Veronica's dad fired, how Veronica's Mom had fled town without a word to her daughter. How Logan and his closest friends had tried to turn the entire school against Veronica by spreading terrible rumors about her.

How Logan and Veronica had had a public confrontation one night at some sort of dress up party, how after that, Logan had gone from telling lies to being so vicious to a young woman who would change so drastically as a result.

Wallace had heard pieces of the story from Veronica herself, but thanks to the nomination for homecoming, the 02ers and others outside of the 09 zip code were now talking and Wallace was now even more confused.

His first week there he would have sworn that Veronica was disliked by everyone, now he realized that the students without trust funds were standing up to those who had turned on Veronica.

The part that had Wallace struggling was that a lot of it seemed to be coming from the PCHers. Veronica and Mac had both been shocked by their support for the Homecoming court, but Wallace had spent the last few days getting that things had started to turn against those who had made Veronica's life miserable.

*LoVe*

Veronica felt guilty about deserting Wallace, but between the upcoming memorial for Lilly and the Homecoming; that night she had thought magical a year ago was now in the forefront of her mind and her emotions were slowly falling apart.

"_I have never kissed a guy." Duncan said as he seemed to be watching Veronica's reaction._

_Veronica blushed when she saw Logan's knowing smile as she drank with Lilly. The year that Logan had moved to Neptune, the two of them had gotten caught under the mistletoe at his parents annual holiday party._

"_I have never used a piece of fruit to practice sex." Lilly said with a smirk._

_Veronica blushed dark red as she drank, then was shocked when both Logan and Duncan drank too. She was curious but too shy to ask what they had done. _

_Logan was clearly trying to come up with something when Veronica spoke as she held up her glass and said "I have never gone skinny dipping."_

_Logan, Lilly and even Duncan drank and Veronica giggled as she looked at the three of them_.

"_Veronica, how is that possible?" Lilly was asking as she looked at her best friend. Veronica had a pool at home, a smaller one than Lilly had but still a pool she could go skinny dipping in._

"_When would I have had had a chance to skinny dip?" She pointed out. "I may have a pool at home, but even when my parents went away last year I always had one of the police officers checking up on me. Seriously, would you have wanted to have Don Lamb catching you skinny dipping."_

_There was laughter from Lilly as she tried to imagine that scene. Logan just shuddered and Veronica couldn't help laughing at his reaction._

Veronica wiped the tear on her cheek before heading to her class trying to forget how much fun she had had that night.

*LoVe*

Keith handed Jake the audio tape. He had been aware of Duncan's illness, but it had taken hearing the teenager in the midst of one of his fits for it to settle in just how dangerous Duncan Kane could be.

When the taller man sat down and listened to the sound of his son attacking Trina Echolls, he looked at the PI and asked confused "What is going on? Since when does Duncan have anything to do with Logan's sister?"

"Keep listening." Keith said as Jake pressed play and soon heard his son slapping Trina and telling her that he wasn't giving her another dime.

"YOU OWE ME! You and I had a deal, I would help you with my brother and you would give me the money. I did what I said I would and you owe me more money."

"I am not sure why Logan turned on Veronica but you had nothing to do with it. Do I really look that stupid to you." They heard Duncan saying. "Now, get the hell out of here."

"Duncan if you don't give it to me, I just might have to go to my brother, tell him how his bff wanted to keep him away from some girl. How you..."

"I warned you last time you threatened me, Trina." They heard the sound of skin hitting skin and Jake flinched. The next sound was the slamming of a door and then all that could be heard was the sobbing of a young woman.

"I am turning the tape over to Lynn and Aaron in an hour." Keith said as he looked at his coconspirator.

"I would love to ship him off to that hospital school I found, clearly Duncan needs more help than what he is getting. I will speak to Aaron, see if he will let this go. Give the girl the money that my son offered her in exchange for what ever it is she knows." Jake replied with deep regret.

They were quiet for a few minutes then Keith asked if Jake had heard about Veronica.

"Yes." Jake was proud of his unclaimed biological daughter, the news about Homecoming clear proof that the damage from the last year wasn't going to stick to Veronica. "Did she get a dress?"

"Yes, its hanging in her closet and I am banned from even checking it out. Though, Mac and their friend Meg are going to change here so I will get to see it that night."

"Photos?" Jake asked as he recalled how he had been handed Veronica's camera the year before while Celeste had taken pic's of the kids. How he had filmed his two daughters, the only video he would ever have of them dressed up together.

Keith asked "What are you going to do with him, Jake. It can't be ignored."

"I will speak to Aaron, we have a meeting tomorrow morning. I honestly don't know what to say, how does one even come up with the words to apologize for my son attacking his daughter." Jake said before ducking out the back hallway.

*LoVe*

Veronica entered the office of Mars investigations. Wallace had had practice after school and then a shift at the Sac n Pac. Mac had been muttering about some kind of online quiz and Meg had been busy but she had sent the odd text message throughout the day.

Finding a note from her dad, Veronica laughed at the part about his needing notes on dog breeds then began to run the background requests that he had asked her do.

*LoVe*

Aaron and Lynn looked at Keith both feeling guilty about what they knew when he handed over the evidence they needed to protect Trina. "I have proof that Duncan was at the Grand the nights of both incidents."

"Thank you, I will take care of it from here." Aaron said grimly. "Keith what do you think that Trina and Duncan are talking about?"

"I am not sure. Its not like Veronica and Logan are even friends anymore. Why would this matter?" Keith said not wanting to let them know that he was still looking into things like the Lilly Kane murder.

Aaron asked if he could be there when he talked to Jake the next day but Keith promptly declined knowing that Aaron was good at reading people and that could expose the truth about what Jake and he were doing.

Lynn walked Keith to the door, both speaking about Homecoming and Lynn admitting that Mr. Clemmons had invited them to attend. "Did Veronica get a dress yet?"

"I haven't seen it, but yes." Keith admitted. "From the calls going back and forth between the three girls last night, they must be something special."

"I remember those days, its wonderful that they will be preparing together that was always the best part of the night." Lynn said with a good natured smile.

"Well from what I heard, the main discussion seems to be about curlers and a debate about waxing legs versus shaving. At that point I tuned out, there are some things a dad's don't want to know."

"With boys its much easier, you just remind them not to drink, that they wear clean underwear and that their ties are on straight." Lynn laughed.

"Logan wasn't too thrilled to make the Homecoming court, even less that we would be attending but he seems to get that it is a normal part of high school life, the very thing we wanted for him when we moved away from Hollywood."

"I am proud of all three of the girls even if only one of them is mine, I almost regret that I only have one boy to threaten." Keith admitted with a wicked grin.

Lynn laughed then asked about the dates.

"Veronica's friend Wallace is going with his girlfriend and his girl friends." Keith said shaking his head. "And unfortunately Wallace is already in over his head so I can't threaten him because it might scare the poor boy."

Lynn watched the man pulling away recalling how Keith's patented scary father had turned her son into a panicking teenager the year before. Now they knew that the kids had made plans to skip the dance but at the time Aaron and herself had enjoyed the video of their son his hands shaking as he promised Keith Mars to return Lilly and his daughter home in the same condition as when they left.

*LoVe*

It was almost four o'clock when Aaron got off the phone when his wife entered his office.

"They should be arriving soon." Lynn mouthed as she heard the sound of Logan's truck. After thanking the new housekeeper for her help, Lynn sent her home early as Logan came in through the pool doors.

"We are going to have extra company." Logan said then explained about the situation at the Casablancas house.

Lynn went to the fridge and pulled out some food, heated it up and when Cassidy entered, she offered the plate to the smaller and shier Casablancas boy.

When Dick tried to sneak a bite, she slapped his hand then said to Cassidy. "Aaron is going to be yelling at your brother and my son, do you want to escape and play video games in the pool house until they are done?"

Nodding, tongue-tied around Logan's Mom, Cassidy took the offered plate, smirked at the look on Dick's face and booked it towards the pool room.

Lynn made sure that the boy had everything he needed. "There are soda's in the fridge and I know this is an inconvenience but do you mind staying here until we come for you."

"After three weeks of eating Dick's cooking or takeout, if you promise to feed me, I would willing stay in the guest bathroom with no video games." He said his face now blood red.

"Well I hope these accommodations are more comfortable than that." Lynn replied and then left, closing the door.

Cassidy was torn between the heated home cooked meal or the new Call of Duty game on the table in front of him not sure what Dick and Logan had done but grateful that he wasn't the one getting yelled at.

*LoVe*

Meg's hands were shaking when she got off the bike. Glaring at Eli she said "There had to be an easier and slower way of getting here. Why couldn't we bring my car?"

"Hey, you are the one blackmailing me." He said returning her glare. "Now, can we go in? Its bad enough that I am going to have to explain why I brought you, let alone have to hear the two rich boys bitching and moaning about how I let you get the better of me."

"We could tell them the truth." She offered.

"That you have been tutoring me is acceptable. Not a chance in hell of the other stuff. It would ruin my rep to have that known." Eli replied as they went to the door and knocked.

Aaron saw the blond with the biker and just opened the door wider saying. "I was curious if you heard anything last night."

When Meg looked at him shocked, Aaron explained he had seen her car backing out of the beach parking lot the night before.

Logan entered the room; saw Meg and tried to hustle her away only for the normal placid blond to duck out from under his arm and say firmly "I am staying. I overheard you talking and your dad yelling at you."

"Meg, you can't be here." Dick said as he came into the room carrying a plate of food. Sitting down still eating, he looked up surprised to see she was still there.

"Why didn't you leave?" He asked curious as to why she hadn't left.

"Dick..." Meg reminded herself of her parents beliefs in Christian virtues and calmly bit her tongue before continuing. "I am here because I got an earful last night and you should be lucky I calmed down. I was considering just running you over with my car."

"Well then I am glad you calmed down." Dick muttered.

"Me too, I can't afford the repairs my car would get as a result of the dents you would make." She said sweetly.

"Well, lets get started." Lynn said coming into the room and setting down the box they had found the night before and the leather bound note book. "Start from the beginning."

Dick looked at Logan who took the offered water bottle from his mother then began to tell them about the year before. "Lilly made me promise to just ask her out. The thing is I tried before Homecoming and but I thought Veronica liked Duncan so I backed off."

Meg looked at the guy now guzzling water and asked bluntly "Why did you think that?"

"I asked her what she thought about him." He responded. "She said she liked him."

"Did you ask if she liked liked him or did you just ask if she liked Duncan?" Meg riposted.

"Uh, dudette what is the difference?" Dick said.

"The first means she likes him as in wants to date him, the second just means they are pals." Lynn offered up helpfully.

"Sounds the same to me." Weevil muttered.

"No, there are nuances." Meg said. "Its like... Like like him means that she hopes he asked her out because he is the only boy she wants to ask her out and the second is like, yes she will date him but only because she thinks no one else would want to date her and she feels comfortable around him."

"Oh, like settling." Dick said now understanding. Seeing Logan scowling at him, the blond said "Its like you really want rocky road but all that is available is chocolate chip. You would eat the chocolate chip because it is still ice cream but you are still yearning for rocky road."

"You know Dick, people really underestimate you." Meg said approvingly. "That is exactly what it is like. In other words, Veronica would have gone out with Duncan because no one else has even thought about asking her out but he isn't her rocky road."

"Who is?" Logan asked jealously.

"You're an idiot." Meg said shaking her head. "A year ago, she lit up when you smiled at her, now, I think when you smile at her, she reaches for her taser."

"Lets get this back on track." Aaron said.

Logan scowled at Meg then explained about the weekend after the big dance. "Lilly and Veronica were at the beach, I was driving by and was going to stop and speak to Ronnie, but I couldn't."

"Why not?" Lynn asked.

"I just couldn't." His tight voice but before Logan could continue, Dick forgot himself and said with a chuckle "He saw Vee splashing around in the water in her bikini and she had gotten wet. Logan couldn't get out of the car..."

"Shut up Dick." Growled Logan while his face had turned almost puce.

Snickering, Weevil said "Lets just leave it at something came up."

Lynn simply said "Boys!" Logan continued as he mentioned that Dick who had come with him to act as a distraction for Lilly and he had gone to see Duncan.

"But before we could talk, things happened."

Dick took over then telling everyone about what they had overheard Duncan and Mr. Kane's response. How Duncan had attacked Jake, how it had taken the two of them and the head of Kane security to pull Duncan off his dad but that it was a shot of something from his mom that had finally done the job.

"Lilly came over that night and we talked. She had heard her parents and had been trying to find a way to tell Vee without destroying her relationship with Mr. Mars." Weevil said. "She told me her plan and I came with her to talk to Logan and Dick."

"What exactly was the plan?" Meg asked.

*LoVe*

Logan looked at Dick and Weevil then said "We talked about it most of the night trying to come up with ways of fixing things but it all kept coming back to Lilly's plan."

"We just wanted to find out if it was true but Lilly was worried about Duncan in the meantime asking Veronica out."

"Then why didn't Logan ask her out, like he already wanted to?" Meg asked.

"We were worried that Duncan still might come after Logan or Veronica." Dick said quietly.

"We decided that we had to find out the truth. Lilly had a hair brush of Veronica's and she got her dad's old toothbrush. We sent the tests to one of those online companies." Logan said.

"Why do what you did if you were trying to protect Veronica?" Meg asked, that is the part that truly confused her.

"Meg, how do you think an o9er would react if Logan and Duncan suddenly didn't get along. Do you think they would listen if he said to keep Duncan away from Veronica?" Weevil asked.

When she seemed to be thinking about it, Dick said "Most of the guys would go along with Logan but not Sean or Ted. The girls, how do you think Madison or Shelly or Caitlin would have reacted?"

Meg got it, "They would have deliberately put Veronica in a situation where she was alone with Duncan just to see what would happen."

"Not even Lilly would have been enough of a difference." Logan said quietly. "Especially since she had a secret of her own."

"What secret?" Aaron asked.

"That we were dating." Weevil said.

"I could get how that would be a huge secret." Meg said her eyes now wide as she looked from Weevil to Logan.

"So, instead of isolating Duncan which wouldn't work, we had to isolate Veronica. But not completely and Dick had an idea for that."

"What idea?" Meg asked suspiciously.

"Not telling, you don't need to know." Dick said snappily.

Meg was about to demand answers but Lynn said "I read about that in the book and it is fine, let it go Ms. Manning."

"For now." She said glaring at the tall blond teenager who had gone back to gulping the food on the plate in front of him.

"We thought it would only be until Lilly had convinced her dad that Duncan was a danger. She had something going on but refused to tell us. She just said that it was a huge family secret and that should would only use it if she had to."

"Lilly died before the plan was being put in effect but it was harder to follow than we thought it would be." Logan said. "We were left to try and protect Veronica the best we could without the rest of Lilly's plan."

"This was an idiotic idea." Meg fumed as she glared at each of the boys in turn. "Your dad was right last night, Logan. After years and years of knowing Lilly you should have thought better than to use one of her plans. They always blow up in her face if Veronica doesn't fix them for her."

"We know." Was the miserable response.

"Anyhow, Lilly did try to make it fool proof." Dick offered up pointing to the tapes and DVD's. "She had each of us make a tape explaining the who what when where and why of what we were doing. Plus she wrote Veronica a letter then after finding out that Veronica really was her sister wrote another."

"I have one along with something else I am supposed to give to Veronica since Lilly thought she would be too mad to accept it from them." Weevil said.

"Since Lilly's secret died with her, we kept up the rest of the plan. We kept Veronica away and Weevil kept an eye on her."

"We used who her dad was as a reason for my boys but there have been some incidents." Weevil added.

"Like Wallace taped to a flag pole?" Meg asked.

"That worked out because V ended up helping us and now the boys are watching out for her without even my asking them too. Except Felix, he is too scared of her dog and her taser."

"What was the rest of the plan?" Meg asked. "What were you going to do with Lilly now dead."

"Since we couldn't get Duncan shipped off, we tried to get him over Veronica by hooking him up with other girls but they don't last long."

"He is sleeping with them, but calling them Veronica." Meg murmured. Seeing their surprise, she said "Girls talk and Duncan is sort of in the doghouse with most of the girls. Only the desperate and those trying to impress the parents want to date him right now. Like Madison, they are going to homecoming together."

"Damn, Casablancas, you are good." Weevil said in shock as he stared at the blond. "That's two you got right."

"What do you mean by that?" Lynn asked.

"We uh, did some editing and uh, set it up for Madison to end up with Duncan for Homecoming." Logan said.

"Boys, I am not sure I like that. I know Ms. Sinclair isn't the nicest young woman you know but she doesn't deserve to end up at the other end of one of Duncan's fits." Lynn said looking at each of them and seeing their stubborn faces.

"You don't understand, she drugged Cassidy last year." Dick burst out with the news. "He almost drowned in his own puke because of her."

"I am sorry for what she did to your brother but no, find a way to fix this." Lynn said then looking at Aaron said "Do you agree?"

"Let the date happen but find a way to separate them at the dance." He offered up an alternative.

"Fine, maybe I could accidentally dump my drink down Madison's dress, would that help?" Asked Meg.

"Sweet and you would be perfect for that because no one would ever suspect sweet innocent Meg of anything like that." Dick crowed.

"It doesn't change what we need to do with Duncan. He has to be distracted, convinced that Veronica is not the girl for him." Weevil stated.

"You guys are going about this the wrong way." Meg said slowly as an idea hit her. "You forget how much Veronica has changed, if Duncan were to really, really see the new Veronica, he would get over her."

"Nice theory but Duncan sees what he wants to." Logan said dryly. "She could have sex with the entire swim team right in front of him and he would still see the same girl that was best friends with Lilly."

When Meg saw Aaron Echolls about to speak, she quickly interrupted and said "Maybe but what if she were seen kissing you then if she were to have to taser him! TRUST ME, being tasered is something not even Duncan would ignore."

"Its too dangerous." Logan said quietly. "He could really, really hurt Veronica."

"I agree with Logan." Aaron said his mind on Trina's injuries. "I have an idea that I am going to implement but for now, Logan you have to tell Veronica the truth... Or at least part of it."

"Why only part of it?" Meg asked.

"The truth about her parentage should stay quiet." Aaron said then holding up his hand stopped them from speaking. "No, we rerun the tests. I know someone and he can take care of this discreetly. I wouldn't trust the results from some fly by Internet company when we are about to destroy an innocent young woman's life."

"So what do you want us to tell Veronica?" Dick asked.

"What you saw Duncan doing to his dad." Aaron explained. "Also, the suspicions about what happened to Ms. Mackenzie. Logan told us about that this morning."

"She won't believe us." Logan said quietly.

Meg agreed to be the intermediary but when they were getting ready to leave, she saw the glances between Dick, Logan and Weevil and got that they were keeping something back.

Her mind on the night before, she suddenly shouted stop then looked at them. "Wait, last night... You were talking about the party at Shelly's... OH MY GOD, IT WAS DUNCAN. IT WAS DUNCAN THAT RAPED VERONICA."

"No, we stopped him from raping her." Dick swiftly stated. "Cassidy walked in just as Duncan was taking off his pants. He was removing his belt..."

"Or putting it back on." Meg said as she sank onto the bench in the foyer of the Echolls home.

"No, there was no time for him to have gone that far." Logan said wanting to believe that he was right.

"Except that I saw Duncan "rescuing" Veronica from a drunk Sean and Ted." Meg said. "An hour before the police showed up, Logan."

"NO!" Logan shouted, his face ashen as her words sank it. "It he had done that... No, there was no time. It can't be..."

Dick looked at Meg and then at Weevil and Logan. "Sean was the one who gave Cassidy the tequila when he was already woozy. Remember, I beat the crap out of him and kicked him out of the party. That was before we found Veronica."

Aaron looked at his wife, then said "Its time to put an end to this. Lynn, would you please call Jake and Keith."

"No, you can't." Meg protested. Seeing the three boys looking at her and the Echolls as well, she said "I don't think Veronica told her dad about the party or that she might have been raped. I am not sure, only Mac would know for sure. She was the one who picked Veronica up that night after Madison trashed her car."

Cassidy had been shocked to realize he was still hungry and had come up to the house to ask Logan's mom if he could have some more when he heard what those inside were talking about.

Off to the side, after emptying his stomach as a flashback to his pre teen years hit, he regained control after wiping the vomit off his mouth and went back to the doorway.

"Duncan didn't rape Veronica." He said cold sweat running down the back of his neck.

Seeing everyone's eyes turn his way, he took a deep breath and said "I lied when I told you I didn't remember what happened that night, I didn't know it was such a big deal."

When Logan and Dick moved forward, Meg stepped in their way and gently took Beaver's arm and moved him to the sofa. "What do you know, Beaver?"

"Cassidy, tell us what you remember." Lynn suggested with a frown at the nickname Beaver.

"Okay, well..." Cassidy went back to the beginning and said "Dick and I arrived and he was pissed off at Madison for what happened at the last party. I knew he was going to go do something to get back at her for me, but I just wanted to pretend that it never happened."

Flushing a bit, Dick said. "If you hadn't fallen asleep in my truck, you would have died bro."

"Still it didn't make it right, what you were going to do to get back at her." He said gently. "I went to find Freddie, he's Luke's younger brother and was at the party. Sean offered me a drink and I decided to take a beer, but he suggested dropping this shot into it and then another and another."

"I saw Logan and Dick talking to Casey. Troy was there along with Duncan but Troy hit on Nick Pierson's girlfriend. He got his ass kicked and Duncan walked him to the door when he was kicked out." Cassidy reported.

"I remember that, Cole thought it was cool that Troy ended up with a black eye." Meg recalled.

"I went to get something to eat, I wasn't feeling too hot." Cassidy said. "So, I was in the dining room when I heard Kimmy talking to Carrie Bishop saying that Veronica had shown up."

"They were talking about how she had hit on Logan after he had asked Lilly out and I told them they were wrong."

"Madison had come in and said that I was just a freak and that I didn't know what I was talking about. That she had heard from Lilly herself that she was no longer friends with Veronica before her death. That her hitting on you, Logan was why she had stranded her at the car wash the night Lilly died."

Logan squirmed, he hated what they had done but it had been done for a good reason, a noble one in fact.

"I left, I can't stand Madison on a good day but that night, I just wanted to escape so I went back and Sean had offered me a drink of something else. It was the tequila and the taste of the salt made me want to throw up but I had another drink. I was so drunk I had no inhibitions left."

"That was when I decked Sean." Dick said softly.

"Yeah it was, well I left to find a bathroom. There were lines at the ones downstairs, so I headed up the stairs. The door on the first bedroom was locked but the second wasn't so I went inside to use the bathroom."

Cassidy swallowed hard then looked at his brother and said "What happened next is why I told you I didn't remember that night. I uh, Madison came in and well..."

Weevil saw how red in the face Beaver was and asked bluntly "Did you have sex with her?"

His eyes looked wild as Beaver looked between his brother, the Echolls and Meg Manning before sputtering out what had happened. His eyes couldn't even meet Weevils.

Dick was more embarrassed for his brother than pissed as he looked at him and said "Dude, it wasn't your fault."

Lynn took pity on the young man and said "What happened after that?"

"I fled the room, wanting to get away from Madison so I did up my zipper and rushed away, I could hear her laughing. I heard two voices down the hall and when I came around the corner I saw Sean closing a bedroom door and heard Duncan's voice on the stairs."

Beaver took a deep breath then said "I went down the hall once again looking for an unoccupied bathroom but couldn't find one. So I went back to the bedroom that I had seen Sean exiting and opened the door. Its when I saw Duncan and Veronica."

"Cassidy, Dick said that you thought Duncan was undoing his belt, are you absolutely sure? Meg asked.

"Yeah, besides, he told me to get out of the room." He reported.

Lynn looked at the boy and suggested that he go wash his face then looked at the others. "I think he is right, I don't think that Duncan got that far."

"Thank god." Meg said.

"We still need to talk to Keith and Jake." Aaron said. "Boys, why don't you let Meg speak to Veronica. I would like Weevil and Logan to stay here but Dick take your brother home."

Nodding the blond did as ordered. Pulling out of the long driveway, he saw how silent his little brother was then how tense and tried to find the words to say what he knew needed saying.

Wishing not for the first time he was Logan with his way of finding the right word at the right time, Dick had an idea and took a right at the corner instead of the left which would have led them home.

Stopping at the quiet beach down at the end of the parking lot; he braked the car then looked at Beaver. Staring at him, he couldn't resist saying. "This is so weird."

"Do you want to hit me? For having sex with Madison?" He asked expecting to be hit.

"Why?" Dick asked truly confused as to why Beaver was so eager to be slapped. "Seriously, dude, you aren't the first one, and its not like I care except that I think she did that to humiliate you in some way."

Scoffing, Beaver looked at Dick then said "I wasn't the one who knelt down and unzipped my jeans. Her mouth was on me before I could even say the words stop."

Dick felt awkward but couldn't resist asking "Was that the first time a girl had done that to you?"

"Yeah." He said.

"She does that instead of you know, real sex but you know what..."

When Beaver didn't respond, Dick said "It was exciting the first time, after that, well she wasn't that good even when I was younger."

Beaver couldn't resist looking at him in disbelief. "It felt good, its why I felt so bad about not telling you."

"Dude, of course it felt good, it was your first blow job." His brother scoffed. "Just wait, in a year, you won't even remember it."

"You do." Beaver pointed out.

Dick was quiet then said "Because of what it fucked up for me. I was at a party along with our entire class. A game of spin the bottle began and I was eager to play. It was fun, right up until the bottle landed on Madison for the third time and we had to go to the closet. It uh, when we came out, she well, she just made it clear that if I wanted that to ever happen again I had to let her call herself my girlfriend. And I was too stupid to realize that that momentary pleasure would cost me so much."

"Didn't you want her to be your girlfriend?" Beaver asked curiously.

Flushing, Dick said "No, there was someone else I was interested in but at the time, what I THOUGHT was heaven lost me any chance with what really could have been perfect. Its fine I let it go, you can't look back."

"Dick, what is going on, with Veronica?" Beaver asked as he looked out the car windshield at the waves hitting the shore.

"I can't tell you, not because I don't want to but because its not my secret." He said as he also watched the waves. "Look, we should head home, dad is supposed to arrive later today."

"Its not like he will stick around long." Beaver said slightly bitter.

"Its not like we need him." Dick stated. "We do need him to hire a new housekeeper though. Hopefully he does that before he goes looking for wife number three."

*LoVe*

Meg pulled into the parking lot of Java the Hut and waited for Mac. When the dark haired girl arrived, Meg in spite of everything going on asked "What happened to the streaks?"

"I think that they didn't really go with the dress. What's going on Meg, you look like hell." Mac asked then looking at the car asked "New car?"

"There is no way my parents would let me have an Audi R8." Meg then looked at Mac and said "Its the Echolls spare car. Look, I have something to tell you about."

Mac got into the car, Meg drove off to Cliff Point and when they were parked called her parents. After being told by her mother that Mrs. Echolls had called and explained that Meg was helping her with a project.

"What is going on, Meg? Why all the secrecy and why on earth are you driving a car belonging to the enemy."

Meg took a deep breath and ignoring the Echolls' request to not tell about Veronica's possible parentage and filled the other girl in on everything.

Mac sat there, her lips moving as she tried to comprehend all that she was hearing. "Oh my god."

"There is more." Meg explained about THE PLAN.

"Dick is involved that is enough of a reason to have second thoughts, third thoughts hell to scrap the whole damn thing." Snapped Mac. "He tends to act first then think."

"Actually, Dick had the few bright ideas in the plan." Meg said chuckling a bit. "I need you with me when I tell Veronica."

"Okay, because trust me, she is going to need us." Mac said as she let all that had been said settle in. "Wait, how did you know about the possible rape?"

"Lizzy was at the hospital when Veronica and yourself arrived. She came to me and we vowed to stay silent unless Veronica went public." Meg said.

Mac took out her phone, then looking at Meg called Veronica. "Is your dad at home?"

"Nah, he got called out on case." Veronica said.

"Can you meet us? Meg and I are out at the Panarama on the Cliff roads." Mac heard Veronica announce she was on the way.

Hanging up, Mac looked at Meg then said "We tell her what we know, let her know that it is only a possibility. Not that it is definite. Then you give her the videos and we held onto the letters, just for now."

*LoVe*

Keith arrived at the Echolls residence just as Jake Kane pulled up in his silver Lexus luxury sedan. "Is this about Duncan?"

"I don't know." Entering the house as directed, Jake and Keith saw of all people Eli Navarro sitting at the counter eating food and Lynn drinking a glass of wine. "Lynn what is going on?"

"Logan and Aaron will be right back, but pour yourself a drink and make it a strong one." Lynn suggested. "Keith where is Veronica?"

"With Cindy Mackenzie and Meg Manning. She said they called her to come meet with them, my guess is it is about this Homecoming dance." He said with a soft chuckle.

Keith sat down after refusing the offer of a drink. Thanks to Lianne's binge drinking before she left them, he rarely drank.

Aaron entered the room, sat the copies of the DVD's that they had sent to Veronica down on the coffee table, then handed Jake the leather bound notebook.

"The Plan." Jake read the opening words then looking at Keith said "This is Lilly's handwriting."

"Yeah, it is." Logan said then sat down on a bar stool next to Weevil. Keith was confused as he saw the two boys together, they were a rather odd couple and that they weren't arguing made things more interesting.

"You should know, Dick and Logan overheard the entire conversation the day that Duncan attacked you." Aaron said. Seeing Jake's head come up sharply, Aaron said "This plan is the result of what happened that day."

"You don't have to be discreet, Keith knows." Jake said as he looked at the former Sheriff.

"All of it?" Asked Aaron, a hard tone in his voice.

"If you mean about that Jake is Veronica's biological father. Yes, I know" Keith said feeling as if the whole truth was coming out.

Logan knew that he had no right to know the truth, but asked "Have you ran tests?"

Jake scowled at the teenager for his blunt disregard for his privacy but Keith knew how Logan had felt about Veronica at one point so he said ""Yes. I had them ran."

"Damn."

Looking at Weevil, Jake wanted to ask why he was there but before he could, Lynn asked "When?"

"When?" Jake parroted back.

"When did you find out the truth?" Lynn said. "When did you suspect that you were Veronica's dad?"

"I don't think that is any of your business." He replied stiffly wishing he got why the hell the Echolls family felt that they had any right to his private business.

"Under normal circumstances no, it wouldn't be. However these aren't normal circumstances. Lives are being affected by this, innocents are being hurt. So I think we have a right to know the truth." Aaron tossed out not letting Jake or Keith for that matter off the hook.

"Neither of us knew until last summer. Lianne always denied that it was a possibility and Veronica has her mother's blood type." Keith reported. "I truly thought that if Jake had been Veronica's biological father, Lianne would have been gone, so we had no reason to suspect."

Aaron kept his opinion of this stupidity to himself as Lynn asked when they were planning on telling the young girl at the center of this mess.

"We promised we never would unless it became medical important." Jake answered. "Veronica would be destroyed."

"We know." Logan replied as Keith lifted the notebook that Jake had put down and began to read. They saw the man's eyes widen then look at Logan with an equal amount of anger and pity in his eyes.

"Lilly knew?" Jake asked quietly when everyone seemed to have dealt with the news that Keith and he knew about Veronica's parentage.

"Yes, she wanted to protect Veronica too." Weevil answered knowing that Lilly had felt anger at her parents not telling her the truth. "We all did."

*LoVe*

Veronica sat in the back seat of the Audi reading the copied notes. Reading _Lilly's_ notes, she felt sad as she flipped through the loose leaf pages and read the plan.

Closing the notebook, Veronica could hear the words that had long haunted her. It wasn't the argument she had had with Lilly, it wasn't the taunts she recalled, it was the day that she had gone shopping for her dress with her best friend.

The unseen blond sitting next to her half sister almost shouted yes at the idea of Veronica learning the truth as she began to listen in to her daydreams.

The truth had cost Lilly so much but in her heart it didn't matter, fixing the damage she had caused in her belief that she knew her family, knew her mother and brother that mattered.

"_Veronica Mars, you aren't buttercup yellow, you are so a scarlet." Lilly was saying as she tried to hand her best friend a strapless red gown with red satan ribbon along the edge._

"_Lilly, its not me." Veronica tried to convince Lilly that she wasn't going to buy the dress but did agree to try it on so that she could get Lilly to let it go._

_After both girls had tried on their dresses, Veronica looked nervously at the low cut gold lame dress Lilly was purchasing and said "Your Mom is going to freak."_

"_What doesn't make Mommy dearest freak?" Lilly said caustically. When she saw Veronica using her dad's credit card to pay for the yellow dress, Lilly reached over to the return rack and grabbed the red dress._

_Paying for both her dress and the one she was determined to get Veronica to wear, Lilly slyly asked. "So, what did Logan want yesterday?"_

_Lifting her head after returning her wallet to her purse, Veronica laughed and said "I am not sure, I went over to his house. We sat there playing games, he never really said why he had asked me to come over. It was strange Lilly."_

"_Maybe he was trying to ask you to the dance." Lilly said with a smirk._

"_As if, seriously, Lilly, Logan doesn't look at me that way. I think maybe he wants to date you." Veronica said trying to hide how that made her feel. "He could have invited me over to get me to ask you then chickened out."_

"_That makes no sense, Ronnie." Lilly said drawing out Logan's nickname for her best friend. "I really wish you would stop burying your head in the sand. Boys like you, I mean really like you."_

_With a shy smile, Veronica said "No they don't. Lilly guys like you, they are nice to me because they think that being my friend gets them to you."_

"_No they don't." Lilly said as she got behind the wheel of her new SUV. Her dad had given into her pleas and had gotten her the larger vehicle in spite of her mom wanting her to have a very boring Audi sedan._

"_Then why have I never been asked out on a date?" Veronica said. _

_Lilly sighed, turning the radio up, knowing that most of the guys at Neptune High thought that Veronica was off limits in part from how protective Logan was and because of the lies she had found out her brother was telling._

_Feeling her phone vibrating, Lilly hid an inward smile knowing that it had to be Weevil, the biker she was keeping hidden until after Homecoming so that she could do what she had promised._

_However, she was only giving Logan until Thanksgiving, if he hadn't gotten the balls to tell Veronica how he felt, she was locking the two of them in the secure room that her dad had built in the cellar._

Mac was watching Veronica as she came out of her daydream. Looking at her friend, Veronica said "Lilly tried to tell me about Logan last year. I didn't believe her. Now, I don't know what to think."

"Are you mad at them." Meg asked while holding her breath.

"I don't believe the stuff about Jake being my dad but yeah I do the stuff about Duncan. It hurts but yeah." Veronica said quietly.

"What can we do to help?" Mac asked.

"Give me time to process. Its difficult because while I hated Logan and Lilly for hurting me, with Duncan I just didn't get it. I could see in his eyes that he felt regret at what was going on, but now knowing what I do, I get that what he regretted was not being allowed to date my via the 09er rules. That he wasn't part of this but was too much of a coward to stand up to his friends."

"Veronica, he is a danger to you, you do get that don't you?" Meg asked when it seemed like Veronica was almost defending Duncan.

With a heavy sigh, Veronica said while wiping away her tears, "I am not defending Duncan and if it wasn't for Cassidy and the others, Duncan would have RAPED ME, someone he had known for years, someone who was his friend, someone he thinks might be his sister."

"Their plan was stupid." Mac suddenly burst out, "Why didn't they get help?"

"I told them the same thing earlier, but now..." Meg shrugged then admitted. "Its not a bad plan, I think if Lilly hadn't been killed, it would have worked."

Wanting to snap how could she believe that, Mac looked forward and slammed her head against the headrest.

"Mac, they asked me how I thought the other 09ers would react to a war between Duncan and Logan? How the boys would react to Logan asking them to protect Veronica. They were right, the boys would, at least some of them, but not all of them. With Veronica iced out, she is safer. The girls, well we all know that Madison wanted to be the new Lilly, that she has always hated Veronica."

Mac thought about it then said "But if they told the truth about Duncan."

"No, Meg is right." Veronica said her tone flat as she looked at the notebook. "It wouldn't have made a difference, Celeste Kane would have never let it come to light and I would have been left vulnerable. I want to talk to them, yell at them but I get why they did what they did."

"I am glad you do, but I don't. I also don't how my online friend knew about it." Mac said.

"What do you mean?" Meg asked. "How does... Unless it is Logan."

"No, Veronica and I were fighting with Logan one day at school, when I got an IM from Bogart." Mac said.

Megstiffened as she had an idea then lifting the notebook that was laying on the console between all of them. Looking at Mac, she realized she knew who Mac's IM pal was.

"Meg what is it?" Veronica asked.

"Nothing we need to deal with now. Veronica, do you want to talk to Logan, to Dick?" Meg quickly replied.

"Not right now, I need some time to deal with this." She said then looking out the window she saw that the sun was starting to set. "I need to head home. Mac, can you come with me? Meg, will you ask Logan to let it go for a few days, please?"

Agreeing, Meg watched as her two friends got into Veronica's car and drove off towards her home. Lifting her phone, she pulled up her contact list and found Logan's name.

"This is Logan Echolls and today's thought for you In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revoltionary act. Georgie Orwell."

"Logan, I just left Veronica, she needs time to deal but accepted things pretty well. Give it time." She stopped for a moment then said "Mac went home with her."

Hanging up, Meg hesitated then pressed Dick's name.

"Hello? Meg, how is she?" Meg could hear the anxiousness in his voice.

"She is dealing, its going to be tough, but Lilly might have been right that she will get over it. I have one question for you." She said.

"What is it? What do you need?" Dick asked.

"I won't keep it a secret, Bogie." She replied while getting ready to drive home.

"Shit." Hearing Dick's slightly panicked response, Meg said "Tell her, she might surprise you."

"You have got to be kidding, she hates me." Dick answered. "I screwed it up way back in the eighth grade, Meg."

"Then why are you talking to her online."

"I saw her computer open one day at school. It was a way of staying there, of being part of her life." He said then Meg heard Cassidy calling Dick's name.

"I will let you go, just give it time, Dick."

*LoVe*

At Veronca's house_, _the two girls went straight to her room and sank onto the comforter on her bed. "What do you need?"

"A rational friend." Veronica said as she looked up at her ceiling. "I need to argue this out with myself but one thing, Mac."

There was a pause then Veronica said "Duncan might not have put himself... He might not have... But he still took my panties, Mac. He used something to penetrate me. I have the hospital report. I went back and stole it."

Reaching under her bed, she pulled out the folder and handed it to Mac. Mac opened up the file, flinched when she saw the clinical words penetration, brusing, hand prints.

Flipping further back, she saw the few photos that had been taken before Veronica had freaked out during the exam. Looking at the hand prints she flinched at the pain Duncan had caused, then looked up. "Veronica, I know you don't want to think about it, but what if it is true. What if Duncan is your brother?"

Tears slid down her cheeks as Veronica whispered "I would hate it, it can't be true. My dad is my dad. The man who taught me how to ride a bike, the man who pretended not to be scared when I almost drove his car off the side of the road last year when I got my permit."

Mac held her friend as she cried herself to sleep, her eyes lifting up and meeting the eyes of the man standing in the doorway an hour later. Keith Mars looked as devestated as Veronica did.

TBC

XXX


	6. Chapter 6

The big talk between Veronica and Keith is coming up, Sunday but we are still stuck at Homecoming this chapter and the next. I started with notes for this chapter but it keeps growing as characters take off and do what they want. They don't seem to get that I am the writer and that they should be doing what I want them to.

Chapter Six

Cassidy had spent the night tossing and turning, his mind trying to deal with everything that had happened the day before and how it had brought up terrifying memories from his childhood. He had been expecting an ass-kicking for having let Madison do what she had done.

Instead, Dick had been understanding even kind to him. Sitting up, he listened to the sound of Dick's shower stating and groaned knowing he had to get up for school.

Dragging his rear out of bed, he saw the newest present from his dad, lifted the keys and grimaced as he recalled the news that his dad's last wife was dragging out the divorce so he was going on to Dubai where he was building his newest hotel.

He had left at five this morning without so much as telling either of his sons good-bye after dropping off yet another well-wrapped and surely expensive gift picked out by his very efficient personnel assistant.

When his door opened, he turned to see Dick standing there wrapped only in a towel as he said "I didn't hear your shower; I was coming to make sure you didn't smother yourself with a pillow out of guilt for what Madison did to you."

"Dad left." Cassidy said lifting the keys, then pointing to the wrapped box. "What do you think it is?"

"I think there is a puppy in the box." Dick said sarcastically. "After all, Sadie is now gone, wasn't that the excuse for not getting a dog when you wanted one two years ago."

Cassidy looked at Dick and said "What was in yours?"

"Dad gave me a surf board with tickets for a trip to Hawaii for Christmas break." Dick said. "The tickers are in yours and my names, with two extra tickets, with a note that we can bring whomever we want."

"Guess that means no happy family gathering again this year. Did he at least hire a housekeeper?" Cassidy asked feeling a bit unwanted.

"Dad wrote a note that if we need any thing we were to call his assistant." Dick said then reaching out ruffled his hair. Cassidy shoved him away then slugged him when the blond added "I am going to ask him to hire a hot sexy one."

*MaDi*

Veronica and Mac had stopped at Mac's house to get her books and laptop. Mac considered changing her outfit, but she didn't want to hurt Veronica's feelings by pointing out the skirt was too short for her.

"We need to find another guy to even out poor Wallace." Veronica said as they drove towards school. Seeing Mac's expression, she said "I'm not ducking things, they are processing but it is going to take some time, Mac."

"What about your dad; have you talked to him?" She asked.

"He will be there when I am ready." She said. "It's what he told me this morning, while you were showering."

"I was thinking on things last night. Dad stuck around; mom didn't. The hero, the good guy is the one who sticks around." Veronica said as they pulled into Veronica's assigned parking spot.

Seeing Logan and Dick standing by Logan's Xterra; Veronica gave Logan a weak smile then reached into her car to pull out her messenger bag with the DVD.

Seeing him relaxing, Mac went to grab her own bag. Hearing wolf whistles, Mac winced on behalf of whoever was creating that reaction in the football players parked near Veronica's car.

"Damn who knew the computer geek had legs like that."

Mac straightened back up reaching down to tug the denim skirt down when she realized she had forgotten what she was wearing as she bent over to reach for her bad on the back seat of Veronica's car.

"Yeah and she is wearing yellow panties, apparently her hair isn't the only bright thing on her." There was the sound of a crunch and then shouts as Mac turned around in time to see Dick Casablancas had decked the fullback for the football team.

Luke and Casey arrived to help Logan pull him off of the large boy, Veronica looked at the boy she was almost certain was the star quarterback. "Keep talking like that and at least one of you will get to meet my little friend."

"Shit, let it go, it's bad enough that Casablancas is rearranging his face, Mars. We need Ziggy this weekend." The boy wearing a Pirates jersey with a #12 on it moaned when he saw the beating his teammate was taking.

Veronica took out her taser, pressed the button and then said "Manners, boys."

Mac was feeling self-conscious enough as they walked across the quad but Meg's wide grin had her growling at the other girl.

"So, I have an idea."

"Does it involve lending me your sweat clothes?" Mac asked.

"No, you look great, Mac." She said then looking at Veronica said "Your idea about another boy; I want to invite someone shocking."

"Shocking huh? Weevil?" Mac asked.

"Weevil would drive his bike off the Corando Bridge before coming to Homecoming. I think that is the whole reason Carmen is dating Tad. She wants to have a normal high school life and dating Weevil won't let that happen."

"All hail the conquering heroes." Mac said feeling warm at the idea of Dick beating the crap out of someone to protect her as Logan and Dick were getting high fives from Luke and Casey as they entered the school.

"Speaking of heroes, I got an invitation to a self defense class." Meg said as she reached into her bag.

"Veronica and I are going too." Mac said as they reached their homeroom. All three girls sat down and Mac looked at Meg and said "Why aren't you doing announcements?"

"Madison complained that it gave me an unfair advantage in the voting so for the week; Kimmy is co-anchoring." Meg said as she rolled her eyes.

"Madison needs that stick pulled out of her a..."

"I sincerely hope you are about to say her apple tree, Ms Mars, otherwise I will have to report you." Mrs. Hauser their homeroom teacher said.

Ten minutes later, Veronica was off to her English class glad that they were still doing poetry. It was mind numbing but easy assignments. Veronica laughed when she heard Madison saying that Mac had worn a short skirt to get votes.

Biting her tongue so hard as to draw blood, Veronica smirked when her name was called over the PA system. Arriving at Clemmons office, she waltzed in and sat down.

"Ms Mars, it has been suggested that I ask you to not attend the celebration of Lilly Kane's life by her parents." The clearly uneasy man said. "That due to your father's less than competent handling of the murder case, it would make them uncomfortable."

"Did Celeste offer a new library if you did this?" Veronica said with a smirk. "So Mr. Clemmons; am I banned?"

"No, we can't ban you." He said. "I can however ask that you avoid causing a scene. Mrs. Kane felt that you would not understand your limited involvement and might create a scene with the press attending."

Veronica stood, now furious with the red headed woman she had felt sorry for at one point the night before, looking at the vice principal she suggested "You might want to ask the real reason she doesn't me there."

Leaving the room, Veronica went straight to Mac's next classroom and said "Those tapes of Lilly, do you still have them."

"Sure." Mac opened her bag and pulled out the back up she had made. "I have some stuff from Logan too."

"He gave you the video from homecoming last year?" Veronica asked as she held out her hand. "One more thing would you please ask Logan to meet me at his house. I will have my dad call the school."

Mac wrote a note and then hurried off to do as requested and saw Logan entering his history class. "Logan."

Logan took the offered piece paper after reading it; he looked at Mac and said "Thank you."

Ten minutes later, his Xterra pulled out of the parking lot, hurried home and rushed in through the front doors. "Mom, is Veronica here?"

Lynn came in from the back deck where she had been planting flowers and said "Logan, why would you think Veronica was here? Why aren't you in school?"

Hearing the doorbell, Logan just smiled at her and rushed to the door. Opening it, he stepped back as the blond rushed in carrying a bag. "Logan, Celeste wants to ban me from Lilly's Memorial. I was going to let it go, was going to let her show that Hallmark commercial, even after being pissed about Duncan. Today, she had the nerve, the nerve to ask Clemmons to tell me to stay away, then lied, SHE LIED about the why!"

Aaron had come out from his study when he heard the loud voices and was about to ask what was going on when he saw Veronica grab Logan's arm and say "I need your help, I would ask Mac but she is going to be too busy for the next two days, so please, help me keep Celeste from..."

Logan reached over and took the heavy bag. "What's in here?"

"Every single dvd, every single photo I have of Lilly and all of us." Veronica said as she released the bag. "Help me please?"

"And the other?" He asked awkwardly.

"I am mad, but it's hard to be mad at you and not be mad at Lilly. So for now, I am letting it go, please, Logan, just for now, can we declare a truce." Her blue eyes met his, and Logan knew he would do whatever she wanted.

When Logan had sat down in front of all of the very expensive editing equipment he looked at Veronica and asked "What songs do you want to use?"

Veronica thought about it then said "Eric Clapton's Tears from Heaven for the middle. I was thinking we could start off with something classical with the stuff from before we all met."

Logan began loading the disks, while Veronica at another terminal did the same with the thumb drive. They worked together, an almost silent agreement that they would talk later about their own issues as Logan looked at what Mac had already created.

"I think we leave the beginning the same." He said.

Veronica looked at what he had and said "It's good but would you cut out the snippet of her wearing the riding clothes, she hated the horses."

Veronica found herself getting distracted as she would come across some old digital memory. When Logan realized she had stopped working, he looked up and found himself laughing as he said "You have to put that in there."

"I had forgotten that." Veronica said as she felt her voice catching as she heard Lilly's words. Stopping, she looked at Logan, then said "Was she really?"

"Lilly was very happy at the idea of you being her sister." He said his fingers typing as he brought over that scene. "Veronica, she was so excited. She sat in my room boring Dick and myself with all the ways you two were the same."

Leaning back, Veronica said "If it wasn't for my dad, I would have loved to be Lilly's true sister."

"She hated that you would be upset. You know she loved how your family. How you were with your dad." Logan said. "When we finally talk..."

Looking at Logan, her eyes full of tears, Veronica said "When we finally talk, I want to know everything. Every single minute because our last words, our last words were us arguing, Logan."

Pulling her into his arms, Logan whispered that Lilly had loved her, wishing that he had a way to go back and change things so that the two girls could know what each other was truly feeling.

Hearing the sound of a light cough, the two teenagers pulled apart self consciously and turned to see Lynn directing the new housekeeper to set down a tray of food.

"In case you get hungry." With that, Lynn hugged Veronica and left. Logan looked back at the large screen and said "Eat now and then get this done."

Logan nodded but handed Veronica a water bottle before grabbing himself a sandwich.

"I am looking for one particular scene that I taped." Veronica said as she looked back at the images on the smaller screen. "I think I know where it is."

They ate quickly and went back to work, Logan laughing when he saw what she had pulled out. "Celeste is going to have a cow."

With a slight smile, Veronica cued up Homecoming and said with a grimace. "I hate it but we have to leave Duncan in some of this."

It was almost eight o'clock when they leaned back and realized that their phones hadn't rung all day. "It's going to be incredible."

Standing, Logan stretched needing to get rid of the tightness in his muscles and when he saw Veronica watching, he flushed a bit as he remembered the first time he had seen her watching him like that.

"I should head home. I promised my dad we would talk, but Logan, thank you."

His eyes traveled over her and saw her hand being held out and with a slight lump in his throat; Logan took the offered hand but pulled her close to hug her. "You're welcome."

Watching as she went to pack up her DVD's, Logan stopped her and said "Let it be, I promise, nothing will happen to it."

Tired, Veronica looked at him and said "Are you going to be there Friday?"

"Yes." He said as he watched her leave. Walking her up the stairs, he walked her to her car then watched her drive her away.

"Logan?" Seeing Dick standing in the dining room while Cassidy sat there eating pizza. "You know about Mac; but you won't believe what happened after you left school, today."

Settling at the table and taking the offered piece of pizza, Logan said "Did the housekeeper quit between lunch and tonight?"

"Nope, we brought the pizza, your mom said that there was some sort of big powwow event that they had to go to." Dick said as he took a bite of his slice.

Logan filled them in on his working with Veronica only to be told that Meg had filled Dick in. "She wanted to yell at me again. I just want to know what happened to the old Meg and can we get her back?"

"Madison and Shelly had a cat fight during lunch; Kimmy ended up in the middle and had her nose broken."

Cassidy's phone beeped and the teenager frowned when he saw the unknown number and the words call me. Going to the back patio, he dialed the number and heard the sound of Mac Mackenzies voice. "Cassidy?"

"How did you know my name?" He asked.

"It's in your school records, why is it supposed to be a great big secret. Do you really like being called Beaver?" She asked.

"Not really, Dick just stuck me with that name in first grade." He replied. "What do you want?"

"It's not what I want, it's what we want." She said uneasily as she looked at Meg. "I am at Meg's house. We have a question we need to ask you. Can you meet us?"

"I would have to have Dick drive me." He pointed out while thinking not for much longer since he took his driving test in December and his dad had just given him a new car.

"I guess we will just have to do this over the phone. Look, Meg, Veronica and I are going to Homecoming together."

"And?" He asked not sure why they were telling him this of all people.

"Meg pointed out that poor Wallace is the only guy and he is bringing his girlfriend so Meg had an idea."

"You have a tux right, Meg said she seemed to remember you mentioning getting measured for one this summer. Does it still fit?"

"Why?" He asked completely bewildered as to why Meg and Mac would be talking about his complaints this past summer.

Mac couldn't believe how clueless he was. "Do you want to join us? Meg thinks Wallace needs another guy and she thought you would enjoy going with us."

"Is this some kind of joke?" He asked. "Are you trying to get back at Dick for something stupid he did?"

"No! I would never do that." Mac said quietly her feelings hurt. "It was just an idea. If you don't want to go with us, it's fine."

Cassidy looked at the well-lit Echolls house, his brother and Logan had asked him to go with them, but Cassidy hadn't want to look like a loser. Thinking for a few minutes, he finally said "Yeah that sounds good. How will I get there without Dick driving me?"

"Well maybe we can pick you up, if you don't mind hanging with us most of the afternoon." Meg offered. "When you arrived at the Echolls house; was the Audi there, I didn't see it get picked up."

"Yeah, it was parked next to Logan's beast when we arrived." Cassidy said as he heard they would talk to him tomorrow.

Reentering the house, he heard Logan asking who called and he said "Mac, she asked if I wanted to go to the Homecoming Dance with her." He said not noticing as his brother gagged on a piece of pizza. "Dick, I need to go home, make sure that Sadie had my tux returned before she left our dad."

Dick looked at his brother even as he swallowed some beer, his mind on what Cassidy had said "I need you to repeat that dude, because it sounds like you have a date with Cindy Mackenzie."

"I do." He said as he picked up his bag. When he saw Dick hadn't moved, he said "Talk to Logan later, I need to head home and make sure my tux is clean. Crap, I don't remember if I had the cummerbund ironed."

"You're such a girl." Dick said frowning at his brother as he tried to deal with the idea of his brother going out with the girl who starred in his own very private fantasies.

*MaDi*

Friday morning, Veronica was laughing as Mac and Meg dragged poor Beaver over to where they were waiting. "Now Wallace, I would like you to meet Cassidy Casablancas AKA Beaver, Beaver I would like you to meet Wally."

"Not funny." Wallace growled as Veronica and his girlfriend began laughing. Holding out his hand to the other boy, he said "I hope you don't mind being called Cassidy because there is no way I am calling you Beaver."

With a shy smile, Cassidy said "I prefer Cassidy. Dick stuck me with Beaver as a kid."

"Oh, I didn't know that." Veronica said then held out her hand and said "Cassidy, I promise I will never call you Beaver again."

"Thanks." He said with a bit of relief.

"Have you ever told Dick that?" Asked Meg.

"Yes, but he gets all weird about it." Cassidy replied. "For some reason, it hurts his feelings that I don't like that nickname."

"Your brother is nuts." Veronica announced.

Mac said then asked "Meg is going to pick you up at eight tomorrow morning, don't forget your tux or shoes. Would you like a copy of the list we made for Wallace."

Seeing the basketball player wincing; Cassidy said yes if for no other reason than to see it. With that, Mac sent him a text and Cassidy began to laugh out loud. "Do you really think this is necessary?"

Looking at Mac and Veronica rushing off to class, he said "Why me, Meg?"

With a wicked smirk, Meg said "Dick isn't an idiot but he is also not very computer literate. Someone helped him set up that fake ID and my guess is that you know who it is he likes."

The sophomore looked at her and said "I suspected that was why I was asked. I told Dick that Mac called and asked me to come with her. He has barely talked to me in two days."

Meg tucked Cassidy's arm in hers and dragged him towards his homeroom and her studio. Thanks to Kimmy's broken nose she was back on the air.

Watching Dick watched them; she waved to him then said to Cassidy. "We are buying several corsages. How would you like to take Mac's home with you, you just have to promise not to forget it."

Cassidy's laughter carried down the hallway as he entered his homeroom, driving his brother over the edge as he finally went into his.

*MaDi*

Logan looked at Dick who was still pouting and said "What is going on with you? Why am I in a good mood and why are you going all emo on me?"

"Cassidy is going to the dance with Mac."

"I was there when she called to ask him." He said as the announcements began. "You had several chances to ask her out; now you are stuck being my date. I do have to ask; don't you want to know the color of my tux; so that you can match my corsage?"

Watching as Logan fluttered his eye lashes at him, Dick didn't so much as smirk instead he frowned at the idea of Cassidy buying _his_ girl a flower.

Casey Gant settled in across from the two of them and asked "Would you mind some company tomorrow night."

"The more the merrier, Beaver has a date so it is just the two of us." Logan said.

"Who is he going with?" Casey asked.

"Cindy Mackenzie." Logan replied when he saw Dick was not going to answer. "Someone here is jealous."

"Yeah, I kind of had a feeling that things were that way when Dick hit Ziggy the other day. Dick seriously Ziggy has twenty pounds on you and spends time working out with his dad a former boxer; you either had the hots for the girl or a death wish."

"I am not jealous." Snarled Dick as he glared at his two friends. "I just don't think it is appropriate for that knuckle buster to be hitting on any girl like that, let alone Mac."

Logan burst into laughter at the look of disbelief on Casey's face and shook his head no at him before Gant could point out the hypocrisy in Dick's statement.

*MaDi*

Mac discreetly checked on who was doing well in the homecoming voting and felt a sense of relief when she saw that Meg had the lead but that quickly changed when she saw that Duncan was ahead of the rest of the boys by twenty votes.

Closing up her laptop, Mac rushed off to English and heard a humph as she ran over Casey Gant. "Are you going to be okay?"

"You know for someone so little you can do some real damage." He said as he smiled at Mac and asked if she was on her way to English.

"Yes, but I think you will survive my running into you." She replied.

As they entered the classroom Mac saw that Logan and Dick seemed to be arguing about something so she asked "Why aren't you taking physics this year?"

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have survived last year so since it won't matter for my college major, I dumped science and kept the math classes at least they make sense to me."

"What are you going to be when you finish school?" She asked suddenly curious about Casey's plans.

With a fading smile he admitted "My grandmother owns Gant Publishing so at some point it will become mine. I guess I will be a publisher someday. At the very least I will start out as an editor."

"Is that what you want to do?" She asked because it didn't seem like it.

"It's what I have to do." He admitted. "I spend summers working there and grandmother thinks I have a real talent when it comes to the likes and dislikes of the children's division, so maybe I will become more involved in that part."

Casey went to sit in his seat and watched as Mac settled into hers. He had worked with the dark haired girl the year before in science class and he had enjoyed the time they had spent together.

Feeling something hitting him in the shoulder, Casey turned around to see Dick scowling at him. Shrugging his shoulders, he said "We just walked in together. Get over it."

Dick was bored as they went through modern poetry, he found himself watching Mac who seemed to be distracted herself. Recalling how she had admitted liking that Byron guy, he had an idea he was going to put into play tomorrow night.

When the PA came on and announced that that the voting had now ended and that the next evening the homecoming queen and kings were to be announced, Dick watched as several girls wished Mac well.

Her certainty of not being the queen had him groaning and writing Logan a note.

D-"R we still interfering in who wins?"

L-"We don't want Duncan w/ Veronica, Y?"

D-"Applegirl is going 2B tiptoeing through the #'s."

L-"We need 2 stop that."

D-"How?"

L-"Explain 2 Beav that it is important."

D-"Y explain it, not talking 2 Beav."

L-"He's your bro."

D-"Mad him. 'Sides he is going w/ them all day!"

L-"Tmrw?"

D-"Yeah."

"Boys care to share with the class?"

Logan looked up to see Mr. Clemmons standing in the doorway and realized that he had to have been there a few minutes to have seen the notes. "Not really, we were just deciding if Dick is going to match my corsage to his tie or mine?"

"Deal with your sartorial problems on your own time." He replied. "Richard I need a moment of your time."

Dick stood up and walked to the door amid the usual jokes about being caught and was in the hallway with the older man. "What's up?"

"Richard, your mother is on the phone for you in my office." The blond looked at Clemmons and rushed towards the main office. His mother NEVER called and if she had it must be bad news.

Grabbing the phone, hitting buttons until he heard her voice, he said "Mom, what is going on?"

"I am sorry to disturb you at school; I don't have your cell phone number any longer." The cool and calm sound of her voice was almost disconnected from his panic as she continued. "Your father's assistant was very unhelpful and his lawyer even worse."

"What's going on, Mom?" He asked as he sank into Clemmons cheap office chair.

"I am sending you some paperwork, it's unimportant but I really need you to sign it and send it back right away."

"So no one is dead, no one is dying. No one is missing; dad's plane didn't crash?"

"I am sure if your father was injured your stepmother would have informed you. Just pick up the paperwork; I had it faxed to the school, sign it in front of your principal and send it back to me, right away, Richard."

With that the blond heard the click and turned to the man standing in the doorway. "Something about faxed paperwork."

The older man went to the front part of the office, took the folder being offered and returned to his office. Handing it over, he saw Dick was just going to sign where it is was marked and stopped him. "You might want to read that or have your attorney do so. It's not wise to sign things without knowing what they say."

Dick scanned the paperwork and found that it seemed to be about a will and that his mother wanted him to give up all rights to someone named Theodore Mallory's estate.

"Who is Theodore Mallory?" He asked.

Clemmons looked the name up in school records and Dick shrugged certain it wasn't important. Clemmons ran the names Richard Casablancas and Theodore Mallory and got nowhere except that his mother's maiden name was Mallory.

Goggling the name, he saw that Dick was already signing the paperwork. Hearing a beep he saw several articles regarding the name Theo Mallory and clicked on to the first one.

"Richard, you need to read this before you sign anything else." He stated.

_Theo Mallory, 74; the grandson of Robber Baron Adolphus August Mallory has passed away. Mr. Mallory who took his multimillion dollar trust fund created from the family's transportation empire and turned it into a billion dollar hedge fund died at the Hospital in Los Angeles today._

"_Mr. Mallory will be remembered for his charitable works and his insistence that his employees give_ _back to their communities. His late wife Amelia Lockheed endowed the LA Symphony orchestra and were on the board of Hearst college where they meet over fifty years ago._

_Amelia was well known in her own right as a sailor. Theo worked tirelessly after her death to help clean up the San Diego Bay saying that his wife was at peace on the water._

_Theo Mallory is also preceded in death by two sons, Theo and Cassidy both of whom died serving their country in wartime. His daughter Betina is the current wife of Pierre Abbere, a French wine grower and the ex-wife of real estate billionaire Richard Casablancas Sr. with whom she has two sons, Richard and Cassidy. _

_Betina who was estranged from her father at the time of his death was quoted as saying that she would miss her father and would regret that they never made peace._

Dick looked at the links below and found one labeled disposition of Mallory trusts and clicked on it, his eyes growing hard as they looked at the file on the desk.

Finding the link lead to an article in the Wall Street Journal, he asked Clemmons if he could have this article printed.

_With the death of Theo Mallory the quiet whispers of who inherits his trusts and hedge fund stock have turned to a deafening roar as Mr. Mallory's attorney explains that due to the rejection of Cassidy Casblancas of the trust from his grandfather; his sole heir will be his older grandson, Richard Casablancas Junior._

_When asked about the recent statements of Betina Abberre nee Mallory, the probate attorney explained that her belief in her rights to her son's funds was incorrect. Mr. Mallory clearly expressed his wishes that if his grandson Cassidy ever changed his mind the trust fund would be waiting for him._

_Regarding Richard who is not legally old enough to manage the large trusts and hedge funds. Friedly said that a group of trusted advisors was in place until such a time as Mr. Richard Casablancas Jr. is willing to take up the reins of the Mallory fund that is solely held by the Mallory family._

Grabbing the phone book from behind the desk, Dick looked up a number and wrote it down twice, once for himself and once for his mother. He then took the papers from Mr. Clemmons, wrote a cover sheet telling his mother that he wasn't a fool and as easy to trick as Cassidy.

With that he sent her the copy of the Wall Street Journal article and wrote. "Nice try."

Ripping the legal paperwork in half, Dick said thank you for the use of your office, then stopped next to the blond girl he vaguely recognized and asked "Where is Cassidy Casablancas this period?"

"I can't give you that kind of information." Georgia protested.

"Our grandfather just died. I need to talk to my brother." He argued then getting what he needed went to the sophomore classroom where he saw his brother giggling and joking with a blond girl he didn't recognize.

Speaking to the teacher, he heard him telling Cassidy that his brother needed to talk to him and that Hannah and he could finish their experiment on Tuesday.

"Dick, what's going on?" Beaver asked as they walked to his brother's truck.

"Did you sign paperwork for Mom recently."

"Yeah, something about a trust fund we inherit if her dad dies or something. She said it was nothing to worry about."

""Dude, read this." Beaver's eyes went wide as he read the now crumpled article. "She lied to you. She thought by getting you to sign away your rights she would get them."

"Wow, so like are you rich now?" Beaver asked.

"Beaver, we were always rich, thanks to dad." He scolded but after a moment said "I think so, but we can just share I really don't want it."

The two teenagers sat there, their mother's treachery not shocking either of them. Betina barely visited them since she had left their dad and never invited them to stay with her in spite of her husband running his family's American operations.

"We should go back to the school. It's almost time for the memorial." Beaver said.

"Logan said Celeste might just have a stroke." Dick was quiet then said "Do you want to attend if they have services for him?"

"I wonder why we never met him." Beaver said as they walked towards the front of the school where their classmates were gathering. Seeing Veronica with her friends, Dick and Beaver were beckoned over and saw Casey doing the same.

Hearing the sound of bikes, Dick watched as Weevil stood next to the flag pole with his brethren gathered around him. Soon most of the student body had gathered as they awaited this presentation.

When Morehouse exited his office in the company of the Kanes and Madison, Dick smirked knowing that this wasn't going to be the quiet and dignified event that the ice queen Celeste had wanted.

When Logan came over and stood near Veronica, Dick saw their eyes meet and was glad that if things weren't back-to-normal that they were at least getting that way.

*MaDi*

Jake was watching his wife, their son and his new girlfriend. Closing his eyes as he dealt with the memories of his daughter, he looked around the gathered audience and found his youngest child standing with her friends, with Logan Echolls mere inches away.

Hearing Mr. Morehouse saying his name, Jake took the mike and made the announcement about the scholarship in Lilly's name and then gave the speech he had written at Celeste's insistence.

"I would like to thank my son, Duncan for putting together this video presentation. All I asked of him was to make it true to who his sister way. And without further adieu..."

Braham's lullaby began playing as on the screen video footage of Lilly as a ballerina, chasing butterflies and celebrating her early holidays played. Celeste looked at Duncan holding onto the blonde's hand with approval. She knew she could rely on him to make sure his sister looked good.

At a sudden movement in the audience, her eyes went cold when Celeste saw Veronica crying on Logan Echolls shoulder. She hated that Clemmons had refused to bar that illegitimate bitch but hadn't gone any future with her complaints.

When the classical song began to fade out, the words to Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven began

__

Would you know my name

_If I saw you in Heaven?_

_Would you feel the same_

_If I saw you in Heaven?_

_Would you hold my hand_

_If I saw you in Heaven?Would you help me stand_

_If I saw you in Heaven._

_Time can bring you down, time can bend your knees _

_Time can break your heart, have you begging please, _

_Beyond the door there's peace, I'm sure_

_And I know there'll be no more tears in Heaven._

_Would you know my name_

_If I saw you in Heaven?_

_Would you feel the same_

_If I saw you in Heaven._

_I must be strong and carry on_

_Cause I know I don't belong here in heaven._

Logan felt the heat of Veronica's tears as the video showed Lilly with her parents, with her brother and with her friends, at each line of the song.

Looking up, he saw Lilly and Veronica again as the line I must be strong and carry on, the two girls in the Kane backyard, playing golf with Backup chasing the white balls.

He saw Meg and Mac reaching out for Veronica even as her arms wound around Logan's waist. The three of them holding her tight as the screen showed a photo of Lilly waving and winking as the last line was heard. Then the screen went blank and silence was heard for a moment then lights came on and the words of the next song began.

__

I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation

_Your living in the past it's a new generation_

_A girl can do what she wants to do_

_And that's what I'm gonna do_

_An' I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation_

_Oh no not me_

_An' I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation_

_Never said I wanted to improve my station_

_An' I'm havin' fun_

_An' I don't have to please no one_

_An' I don't give a damn_

'_Bout my bad reputation_

_Oh no, not me_

_Oh no, not me_

_I don't give a damn_

'_Bout my reputation_

_I've never been afraid of any deviation_

_An' I don't really care_

_If ya think I'm strange_

_I ain't gonna change_

_An' I'm never gonna care_

'_Bout my bad reputation_

_Oh no, not me_

_Oh no, not me_

_Pedal boys_

_An' I don't give a damn _

'_Bout my reputation_

_The worlds in trouble_

_There's no communication_

_An' everyone can say_

_What they want to say_

_It never gets better anyway_

_So why should I care_

'_Bout a bad reputation anyway_

_Oh no, not me_

_Oh no, not me_

_I don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation_

_You're living in the past_

_It's a new generation_

_An' I only feel good_

_When I got no pain_

_An' that's how I'm gonna stay_

_An' I don't give a damn_

"_Bout my bad reputation_

_Oh no, not me_

_Oh no, not_

_Not me, not me!_

The loud song blasted from the speakers as the photos and videos of Lilly cheerleading, Lilly partying with her friends, Lilly smirking at the camera, Lilly flipping off current Sheriff Don Lamb. Lilly talking Weevil into giving her a ride on his bike, the blond wearing her pep squad uniform.

Pictures of Lilly and Veronica on the beach by themselves; some with Duncan and Logan. One of Lilly putting on bright red lipstick and kissing her mirror. Lilly sitting on the hood of her car, Lilly teasing Duncan. Lilly holding two fingers up over both Logan and Veronica's heads.

As the words became soft, they heard Lilly's voice, the small scene that Veronica had been looking for with Logan.

Lilly was sitting on her bed, painting her nails as she faced the camera. "I want to live my life every single day as if I had that tiger by the tail, I want to live my life with no regrets, no lingering anger, I want to be free to be me."

There was silence then still photos of Lilly in front of a birthday cake, each one showing how old she was turning and it ended with her blowing out the candles of her seventeenth birthday cake.

There were murmurs and tears before the sound of clapping that began quietly then grew to louder. Jake Kane looked around and saw that he wasn't the only one missing his vivacious daughter.

Jake wiped his tears away and his eyes meet Veronica's and he realized that it hadn't been Duncan who had put together this presentation, it had been the tiny blond.

With the way that Logan was holding her tight, he was sure that the boy had had a part in it too. When he felt the tips of Celeste's nails digging into his skin, Jake turned to look at his wife who was shooting daggers at him with her eyes.

"This was not what we agreed upon, Duncan." He heard her telling their son.

Duncan was silent as he watched the black screen then looking at his mother he said "Maybe not, but it was LILLY and what Lilly would have wanted; after all this was supposed to be about her."

With that, Duncan looked at his dad, then said "Madison and I are heading out, I will see you later."

When they left, Celeste was saying how she hoped that Madison would be a better influence on Duncan than his past friends. "Celeste, this, this video, it was Lilly in living color and you know it. Our daughter was no angel but she isn't the devil you try to make her out to be. She was a teenage girl trying to find her way in the world."

"Well." Celeste began to walk away but Jake stopped her. "What do you want?"

"Tonight was in memory of our daughter. I am going to the cemetery to visit with her; would you like to come with me?" He asked.

"No." Celeste quickly replied. "Now that this farce is over, I am heading up to our place at the Vineyard. You can do what or whomever you want."

"If I were doing what I wanted, we would be divorced." He harshly replied as he publicly helped her into the limo then moved to the other side. "Celeste, let's end this now."

"Forget it. Do you really think I am going to allow you to have your happy ending with Lianne Mars?"

Resting his head on the back of the seat, Jake reached over and hit the button to open the roof window. Ignoring Celeste's complaints, he said "I need the air. Celeste, if you want I will put it in writing that I have no intention of getting together with Lianne. Whatever you want, just let's end this."

Her lips thinning as she pressed them together, she said "Anything?"

"Yes, just for the love of god, let's end this." He replied.

"Fine, if you give me what I want, I will divorce you. I will have my attorney contact yours next week." She replied.

"Thank you, Celeste." Jake said the heavy burden of his marriage feeling lifted off his heart. "You won't regret this."

"No, but you will." She said as she got out of the car at the house and watched as the driver pulled away. "You will regret making that offer more than you know."

*MaDi*

Mac hugged Veronica again then regretfully left to go home. She had some work to do that night in order to take care of making sure the results said what they wanted to the next day.

Arriving at home, she booted up her laptop and opened it up to the student site to begin the work to make sure that Meg was announced as Homecoming Queen.

"Cindy, may I come in?"

Turning to greet her mom, Mac smiled when she saw that she was carrying hot cocoa and a plate full of cookies. "I am glad you came home, your father and I feel like we rarely see you much anymore."

"It's just been really a crazy couple of weeks." She replied as she watched her mom fuss as she walked around her room.

"I am so proud of you. You have begun to leave that shell you climbed into in the eighth grade. It's as if you have turned from a caterpillar to a butterfly, though one minus its colorful wings." She said touching Mac's hair that wasa solid black.

"They don't match my dress." She admitted. "Veronica and Meg drag me along until I find my comfort level at what we are doing then they let me be."

"I was so worried when I heard you were talking to that Mars girl, after all the rumors I had heard about her, but clearly the rumors are wrong. She is such a sweet child."

"Just one that carries a taser for protection." Mac said knowing that her mom had found out about the taser a few days before. "Today was the memorial for Lilly. Logan and Veronica were going to go to the beach and talk tonight. I wanted some down time so Meg went home too."

"I will let you get back to your computers. I will be downstairs finishing my book. Your father took Ryan to the Hearst football game." Natalie looked at her daughter and laughed when she saw Mac reaching for a cookie and typing at the same time.

*MaDi*

Dick was at home, he had been invited by John Enblom to a party down near San Diego but he wasn't in the mood, he just wanted to wallow as he thought about all he had been told by his dad's attorney when he had gotten home that night.

Entering Beaver's room to grab the Call of Duty game Dick saw the wilting flower in a clear plastic box on the cluttered desk and saw that his brother had forgotten to put it in fridge.

Looking at it, realizing it was beyond saving, he cussed Beaver out and went to toss it in the waste basket when he stopped, it was going to be impossible to get a flower the next day.

Returning to his room, he grabbed his car keys then went to the garage. Instead of the Hummer he took his latest present from his dad and as he realized that getting a flower in Neptune would be impossible since both Pan and Neptune were having their Homecoming games.

Turning on the GPS, he got directions to the nearest flower shop south towards San Diego and drove off, hoping to mitigate Beaver's idiocy.

Parking out front, he hurried inside and talked to the woman behind the counter. "What kind of flower are you looking for?"

"The one she already has is purplish rose." He replied as he explained what his brother had done.

"Oh dear purple is going to be hard to get. The Cruise wedding in La Jolla had all of them bought and paid for up and down the entire coast. What does the dress look like, maybe we can find something else."

"I don't know; it's not my date. It's my brothers, though if I hadn't screwed up she might have been mine." He replied.

"Oh dear, and your brother forgot to put the flower someplace cool? Wasn't that what you said, dearie?"

"He left it on his desk." Dick spilled. "I don't want to get blamed because I have been an idiot in the past."

"I don't know what we can do for you if you don't know what the dress looks like." She said. "Is it a wrist corsage or one to be pinned to her dress?"

"A wrist corsage." He replied then had an idea. Calling Meg, he got her voice mail. Calling Logan he got the same. Finally he called information and got the phone number for Mars Investigations.

"I think that might be going a bit far to find out what her dress looks like, young man." The woman said amused when the boy asked the operator for Keith Mars, PI.

Dialing the number, Dick was so happy to hear a human voice he said "Thank god, Sheriff, I need your help, it's an emergency and I couldn't reach anyone else."

"Who is this?" He heard the voice ask.

"Its Dick, Sheriff, Dick Casablancas."

"Dick, this isn't Keith. He just stepped out to pick up our pizza. I am Cliff, his attorney."

"Good, I need a lawyer." He said to the amazement of the woman in front of him.

"Are you in jail, Mr. Casablancas?" He asked.

"No, my mom is the crook in my family, but no, my grandfather died and I was told to bring an attorney to the house on Tuesday, so it looks like Beaver's mistake wasn't so bad after all."

*MaDi*

Cliff was getting a headache as the boy kept talking, something about Apples and girls, Tom Cruise's wedding that weekend in La Jolla and how he really needed to know what the dress looked like.

When Keith entered his home, he saw his attorney on the phone then heard him promising to call the person back on Monday morning before hanging up.

"A client?" Keith asked as Cliff and he returned to the kitchen where he plopped the pizza down on the counter.

"I am either being hired to get him out of the nut house or he belongs in one. Oh by the way, he wanted me to ask you what color Katie Holmes wedding gown was."

Shaking his head, Keith put the beer in his fridge and said "You're cut off before we even start. I am a private investigator not a member of the paparazzi."

"I am not kidding. Some young man named Dick Casablancas called and said that he needed to talk to Sheriff Mars. That it was an emergency and he couldn't reach anyone else."

"Dick Casablancas wants to know what color Katie Holmes wedding dress is?" Keith asked. "It's not the most unusual thing I have heard out of that young man's mouth but why did you tell him you would speak to him on Monday."

"He needs an attorney, referred to his mother as a crook and said something about his grandfather being dead and being questioned on Monday about a mistake he made with a Beaver."

"That's his little brother." Keith replied.

"Oh." Cliff said then added "Well that makes more sense. I wonder if Apple's a girl. Purple flowers and the Cruise wedding then he said something about needing to know the color of her dress before tomorrow evening."

Keith just shook his head then pulled out the deck of cards. "So what will it be?"

"Poker as long as Veronica isn't playing."

"No, Veronica is busy all weekend. Right now she is with Logan Echolls; hopefully they declare peace soon. Tomorrow night is homecoming. She is in the court along with her friends Meg Manning and Mac Mac..."

Standing, Keith went to the phone and asked "Did Dick leave a call back number?"

Throwing his hands into the air, Cliff said "Are we ever going to get to play poker?"

"Phone number please?" Keith said then punched in the digits. Hearing a hello, he asked "Dick, what happened and why do you need to know what Katie Holmes wedding dress looks like?"

There was silence then Keith heard a voice asking "Sheriff, why would I care what a wedding dress looks like? I have to replace Mac's flowers, Cassidy forgot to put them in the fridge and there are no purple roses anyplace."

"Let me go Veronica's room." Looking at the three dresses, Keith eliminated the princess dress, that was clearly Meg. "I have two dresses, Richard. A purple off the shoulder dress and a dark red strapless gown. My guess, Mac's is the dark purple dress."

"Thanks."

Returning to the kitchen, Keith saw that Cliff had already plated up some pizza and grabbed a beer. "Crisis averted, so ready to lose your fees from the week."

*MaDi*

Early Saturday morning, Veronica sat up unsure of where she was. Looking to her right she saw Logan was laying on the bed beside her. "Logan, where are we?"

"Just five more minutes."

"Logan, I have to go home and unless you want me driving your car, wake up." With that, he quickly sat up, his hair standing on end. "We fell asleep and never talked."

"That was your fault. You needed to rest." He said yawning then looking at the clock. "Veronica, it's six AM. Why on earth did you wake me up?"

"Meg and Mac are going to pick me up in two hours." She said patiently then added "And where are we?"

"My pool house." He said as he sank back down onto the pillows. When Veronica pinched him, Logan scowled at her and said "Stop, unless you want to talk now, I am going back to sleep."

"Then give me the keys to your baby." She said stretching her muscles shocked to realize she had spent the night curled up in Logan's arms.

"No." With that he pulled a pillow onto his face to block out the sun.

"Logan."

"Veronica." He mocked.

"Logan Aaron Echolls, either wake up or give those keys." She said now trying not to laugh as she could see his lower lip that was clearly pouting.

"Why can't they just pick you up here?" He asked.

"I have to go home, shower, shave my legs before we go get our massages and I have to put on clean underwear."

Unable to resist, after months of being an ass, Logan said "Why don't you just go without it? The underwear I  
mean."

When Veronica was silent, Logan was relaxing celebrating his victory when what he said hit him. Sitting up, tossing the pillow to the floor, he said "I didn't mean it in a jack ass sort of way."

"I know." She said softly, there was still pain from the hurts that he had caused her but the videos and the letters had done much to erase part of it.

Resting her head on his shoulder, she said "It's going to take time for either of us to get past the insults but even when I hated you, I still..." Loved you she said silently to herself.

"Me too." He answered the silent words that he knew she wasn't ready for him to say them out loud. "Call Meg and have her come get you when she picks up Beaver."

"You know he hates being called that." She replied. "He prefers Cassidy."

"Yeah but I know why Dick calls him Beaver so I will go with that." Logan replied.

"Jackass." She answered.

"No, it's not." He responded. "It's not my secret."

"Fine but Logan, the stuff I need is at my house, we have to get that before we go shopping and our time is already tight."

Logan didn't want her to go, they had spent most of the night sitting on the beach, not talking about what they should have been, but just basking in the peace and sense of home they found in each other.

"How about you shower here, I will go find you a razor or something plus some clothes. I am sure my mom has something you can wear."

"Logan, your mom, 5'7, myself 5'1. It won't work. Besides, girls don't borrow each others underclothes and I am not putting these ones back on, I think I got sand in them on the beach last night."

"Go, shower." Logan stood and went to the French doors. "Ronnie don't get naked out here. Change in the bathroom unless you are an exhibitionist; we have cameras in here."

With that parting shot, Logan bypassed the pool and entering the house through the study. Knocking on his parent's door; he said "Mom, Veronica needs to borrow clothes."

A few minutes later, after hearing some rustling plus a curse he heard the door opening. His dad was standing there glaring at him. "You had better be very glad I love you right now."

With that, Aaron called out to his wife. "I am taking a shower and it is going to be a cold one, just so that you know."

"I am going to need a therapist." Logan tossed out.

"Before we arrange that, why don't you explain why Veronica needs clothes at the break of dawn." Lynn asked as she tightened the belt on her dressing gown.

"We spent the night at the beach, remembering Lilly." He said. "She was to spend the night at Meg's but didn't want to go there at one in the morning so we slept in the pool house."

Seeing the question in his mom's eyes, Logan flushed and said "Slept, that is all. Remember I know about the cameras and have no urge to make pornography. Besides, I have a lot to fix with Veronica and moving that quickly into a boyfriend girlfriend relationship would create more problems for her right now."

"Fine, now lets see what we can find for her." Lynn went to her closet and found a short skirt that works and then suggested that they raid Trina's closet for matching sandals. "Also, let me see if I can find that bag."

Searching for a few minutes, Lynn was saying aha when she backed out of the corner with a crumpled bag from Victoria's Secret in her hands. "I ordered this online but in the wrong size. The panties should fit and Veronica is still small and perky enough to go without a bra."

"Mom, we are venturing into TMI territory." Logan said not looking at his mother.

"Don't pretend you haven't noticed her breasts. I am not blind you know." She said clearly offended. "Though I am sure you father can reassure you of this, but just because some breasts are larger, you can really only fit so much..."

"Oh god please kill me now." Logan said looking at the ceiling.

Lynn pushed her son out of the master bedroom; Logan just rushed off to find the shoes really wishing he had normal parents.

*MaDi*

Dick watched from the doorway as Beaver staring at the withered flower for several minutes before saying "I saved your ass. Go look in the refrigerator."

"What?"

"I saw your screw up last night. I couldn't find roses but well just go look. I know you are going to be running around all day so take the cooler on the table."

With that, Dick went to the garage and put his surf board in the back of the Hummer before driving off to head to the beach. When Logan pulled in twelve minutes later, he asked "Why are you up so early?"

"Veronica spent the night. After that, my parents have my brain fucked up." With that the two friends were quickly out on the water letting everything else slide from their minds.

*MaDi*

Meg thanked her dad for the extra cash he had given her in spite of her pointing out she had earned more than enough baby-sitting to pay for things.

"I know you wish you could work at some place in town like your friends but gave in when I said no. So the very least I can do is give you extra spending money. I would match what you already earn if you would let me."

Backing out of her driveway, Meg called Cassidy who said he was waiting. "I have a bag, my tux and a cooler."

Meg laughed as she told him she would be right there then hearing the sound of a familiar motorbike pulled over and waited for Weevil.

"You know, Weevil could make you feel so good." He said his eye brows wiggling as he pretended to leer.

"That might work with some girls but I have seen you with your young cousins and how you drool over Carmen, Eli." She tossed back. "So what's up?"

"Give this to Veronica. Lilly left at the jewelers the day she died. I had to break in and get it back but Mr. Mars fixed it this week so you can give it to her." He said as he handed the wrapped box. "Carmen wrapped it for me."

"Why don't you just confess your feelings, Navarro?" She called out when he walked back to his bike and ignored her sally. She knew that he had tried to move on tried to let Carmen have what he felt she wanted and needed and that he had at least felt something for Lilly but Meg knew deep down he saw Carmen as the future mother of any kids he had.

*MaDi*

Mac shut down her computer and practiced being surprised at the idea of Meg winning tonight. After laughing at herself in the mirror, she heard her mom calling her name.

"Your friend is here and she has a young man with her." Natalie said as she entered the bedroom.

"That would be Cassidy." Mac said hurrying outside. Seeing the open trunk and the boy standing near it, she said "Do we have room for my bag?"

"Yes, Veronica is driving to meet us at the spa." Meg said then added "She wants you to call."

Mac heard her own phone ringing. At the panicked sound of Veronica's voice she laughed and said "I took care of it, already. I knew you would forget."

"So it's definite?" Veronica asked.

"Yes, I took care of it this morning and ten minutes later it beeped to reassure me that the numbers were pulled."

"I just got back to the car with the color swatches for the nail polish." Veronica said. "Georgia is here and riding with me; because Wallace's Mom had a run in with Celeste Kane and now she is against his attending the dance with us."

*MaDi*

Entering the spa, Veronica saw her friends waiting at a very elegant table with a lovely spread of juices and fruits for breakfast. "Damn, I don't know what dad did for the owner, but wow, they are going all out."

Cassidy said. "I came here once to track down Sadie when Dad and she first got married, she didn't even get this treatment."

"Sorry I am late. Mom crisis avoided." Wallace said with a grin on his face. "So Georgia, when do I get to see this dress?"

"Ms. Mars, if you and your friends are ready, the Blue Room is waiting. Gentlemen, we have you in the gaming room." Wallace and Cassidy grinned at one another and quickly left as the girls went to the aptly named blue room.

"They weren't kidding were they." Mac said as she took the offered blue robe and slippers. Practically every single thing in the room was blue.

"What's up first?"

A long soak and massage later and all four of the girls were ready to never leave when they heard their names being announced for the scrub and shine.

Mac could barely lift her head as she felt the woman working on her toes. "Veronica, would you mind if I asked your dad to adopt me? I don't know what he did for the owners but I think I love him."

"Me too." Moaned Georgia as she let out a giggle. Her feet were ticklish but this still felt like heaven.

A long leisurely lunch later, they finally saw the boys again and Cassidy seemed to be ready to take a nap. "We just woke up."

"That explains it." Meg said laughing. "You just look very, very relaxed."

"You have no idea. _I_ had no idea before we came here." Wallace said then admitted. "After this weekend, though, Cassidy and I have decided we have got to get some guy friends. Promise us that no one will ever know we came here."

"Scouts honor." Veronica said only to hear

"Veronica Mars, I never knew you were a girl scout."

There were groans as all of them turned to Logan, Casey and Dick. "What are you doing here?"

"I turned on the chip in your phone. I remembered what Mr. Echolls said and when we wanted to find you." Dick said with a wide grin as he took in his brother wearing what looked like medical scrubs and slippers. "You are so getting kicked out of the mainly man club after this."

"Jealous?" Veronica asked.

"Of wha-" Dick's jaw dropped when a hot looking blond came out of a doorway and called out for Mr. Fennell and Mr. Casablancas.

"That would be our masseuse; was there something you wanted Dick?"

"No fucking way." Was all his brother said when Beaver left the room with the blond asking if he would be more comfortable in his boxers or with just a towel.

"Dick, you forgot to get the keys from Beaver." Casey pointed out.

"My brother left here with a hot blond, he really won't care if he is locked out or not." Dick pointed out.

"Do you need Cassidy's keys they are in my purse." Meg offered as she went to get her purse. Returning, she saw that Logan and Veronica were discussing something about the Echolls pool house and Casey and Mac were talking about the dance.

"Here you go." She said and watched as Dick exchanged house keys.

"Dad's assistant hired someone to change the locks when I asked him to. Mom still has a set and she hasn't lived there in over ten years." Dick said.

*MaDi*

The man standing behind Veronica was asking. "Do you have a picture of the dress?"

Veronica gasped when she saw her hair slicked back and pulled into a bun. A clip was put in it and before she could say thanks she found herself being directed towards the woman who was going to put her make up on.

Arriving she saw Meg sitting there and the blond looked at her and said "Veronica, I would like you to meet Tiffany."

"You look great, the dress is going to look incredible with your hair down that way." Veronica said stunned because Meg really did have the fairy tale princess look down pat. "Have you seen the guys, Georgia or Mac."

"Georgia is already done and being helped back into her clothes since her shirt has to go over her head." Meg replied. "Mac I haven't seen yet."

When Mac entered the room her friends gasped, she said "It's too much isn't it, way over the top."

Mac's hair with its natural curl was pulled back and up in a tight bun. There were a few wisps of hair let loose around her ears but with the finely thinned eye brows and barely there makeup, she looked the part she was trying to project.

"Wow, Mac." Wallace and Cassidy had joined them and both boys were astounded at the new hair do.

"You look... There are no words." Cassidy said as he looked at his new friend. Her skin was glowing from whatever they did and she just seemed so different that Cassidy felt guilty about poor Dick not getting to see this.

"Veronica, you look so wicked." Georgia said as she took in the rather subtle looks that the spa had created to match her dress. "So Gwennth Paltrow circa Perfect Murder."

Putting the top up on her car before they drove home, Veronica called her dad and said that they were going home to change.

"Good, I will be there, camera waiting." He replied. Hanging up, he looked at Jake who showed him the photos that his spy at the spa had sent them. "They look beautiful."

"Does she suspect?" He asked.

"That you own the spa, no." Keith looked at the time and said "Shouldn't you be heading home."

"No, part of the deal with Celeste, the part we agreed on this morning, she would get to send Duncan off for the night." Jake said. Taking his whiskey to the window, he looked out and said "It's going to cost me a lot but as of next week, freedom will hopefully mean I am free."

"Either Celeste or Lianne will end up in jail for Lilly's murder." Keith said darkly as he took a sip of his water. "I have to go. Veronica said that Wallace might need help with his rented tux."

*MaDi*

Logan, Dick and Casey got out of the car and walked up to the front door, the car was shiny as a result of having it waxed and Logan didn't want to risk hitting the side of the garage by pulling it inside.

"Logan, honey is that you." Entering the kitchen, the boys grabbed waters before joining his parents in the living room. "You got a package earlier, from Dick."

Dick laughed and said "I forgot about that. I uh, ran into Enblom after hitting the florist shops. I got us all boutonnieres. They match certain dresses except Casey's, he ended up with generic because he mentioned he wanted to get lucky tonight."

Lynn and Aaron went to change. They were going out to dinner before playing chaperon at the dance. When the boys came down, she couldn't resist teasing all three of them about how handsome they were.

"Mrs. Echolls, I always wanted to be someone's boy toy, so if you ever run out on Aaron, please give me call." Casey said only to say ouch when Logan slapped him on the back. "That was uncalled for."

"So is hitting on my mom." He reminded his friend.

"She may be your mom, but she is still hot." Casey said.

"And married, unless that escaped your notice, Mr. Gant." Aaron said as he came into the room wearing a suit. "I am feeling decidedly underdressed, you young men wash up nicely."

Lynn helped them put on their ties, then watched as they walked out to Logan's truck. "You know when they arrived at the Casablancas house later they won't be so handsome, don't you. Drunk, more than likely sick."

"Did you get a few pictures before they left at least?" Aaron said as they walked out to the waiting Ferrari. "I always wanted to take a hot babe to Homecoming in a Ferrari and according to Mr. Gant you qualify. Thank you for fulfilling this teenage boy's fantasy; can we make out in the car on the way home?"

"Only in the garage with the doors down and only if you buy a car as roomy as your son's Xterra."

"I think I could persuade Logan to lend it to us." He leered.

"Not if he suspects why we want it." She warned as he stepped on the gas and pulled out of the drive.

*MaDi*

Meg stopped Veronica from going to change, handing her the box and told her what Weevil had said. "I am going to help Georgia change, so that you can open it in privacy."

Georgia was wearing a simple sheath gown that she had loved in the store but seeing Meg Manning walking into the Mars spare bedroom and she felt like an ugly stepsister.

"You are beautiful." Meg said as she entered.

"You have got to be kidding me. Have you looked into a mirror?" The young blond said as she took in the ice blue strapless gown made of tulle. Even the darker blue sash screamed Cinderella as Meg swished around her, helping to snap the little hook closed on her gown and checking to make sure that her hair hadn't fallen.

"You are even wearing pearls, Meg. Do little woodland animals talk to you? Do you spin straw into gold at night?" Georgia asked as she looked at the beautiful and innocent looking blond.

Meg heard Veronica entering and saw she was wearing the V and L letters entwined on the necklace. "Wow are those diamonds?"

"I think so." She said weakly as she looked at the mirror on the back of the door. Standing there, Veronica could almost hear Lilly's voice in her head as she told her she looked good.

"Wow." Cassidy couldn't believe his eyes as Veronica came down the stairs. "No one is going to believe that I am with you guys."

"Cassidy, why not?" She asked and with a mischievous grin pressed a kiss to his check. "You look very handsome in that monkey suit."

"Here." He said thrusting the clear box at her. "I sort of messed up and left Mac's flower out so Dick fixed things and went over the top so if you hate these, its his fault"

Veronica slipped the ivory colored calla lilies on the dark gray band over her hand until it was on her wrist amazed how well it matched her dress. "Dick did well."

Looking at Cassidy, she saw he was trying to pin on his own flower and decided to try to help. "Here, let me do that."

"Thanks." He said then chuckled when Wallace came out of Mr. Mars bedroom, his fingers between his shirt collar and his neck. "It's not that bad, Wallace."

"I hate dressing up. Humans aren't meant to be wearing dress shoes or these many clothes." He said then greeted his best friend with a soft kiss to the cheek. "You know, you look like this best friend I have, but you can't be her, she would never look this good unless for a case."

"For your information, I always dress to impress." She said then hearing the doorbell went to answer it. Seeing Wallace's mom standing there, she stepped aside and told the woman. "We are gathering out back for photos."

Alicia said a tense thank you then went outside. She had heard lots of rumors about the Mars girl and didn't know what to think but the head of security for Kane software had stopped by the night before and had made it pretty clear that he thought she was a good kid and had all but ordered her to give Veronica Mars a chance.

Alicia gasped when she saw her son, with two beautiful young women, tears coming to her eyes at how adult he looked. "Mom, do you remember Georgia. This is Meg Manning."

"Nice to met you." She murmured and was soon introduced to Mr. And Mrs. Manning, along with Natalie Mackenzie who explained her husband had unwillingly stayed at home with their son. "I have a young son too; I understand. Thankfully Darryl had a sleep over tonight."

"Veronica, where is Mac?" Meg was asking.

"She said she would be right down." Veronica was on her way to the stairs when she saw Mac walking down them. "Oh my! Ms Mackenzie."

Laughing, Mac looked down then over at her friend and said "I can't believe we are getting this dressed up for homecoming. So much for our plans to party all night long."

"What took you so long?" Veronica asked.

"I had Cassidy take a surprise to the car for us." She said with a slight grin as she came out to the small wooden patio,

"Oh my dear, your father is going to be so upset he missed this." Natalie took her daughter in and had to wipe tears away. Mac was wearing a dark purple gown that draped across one shoulder and her hair was pinned up with soft wisps near her face. "Where did you get those earrings?"

"They are Veronica's." She replied as she touched the small hoops with a diamond floating loosely on them. When she heard Cassidy calling her name, she looked up as he handed her the wrist corsage.

Hearing the story about how he had ruined the first one and how Dick had fixed things, she ran her fingers over the beautiful corsage with miniature orchids on it with just a hint of purple in the center. "It's beautiful."

"Yes, it is." Cassidy said then leaned in to say that "You should see the Lily he picked out for Veronica. Meg got blue Rembrant tulips that match mine."

Keith had them group up for pictures, laughing as the two boys each took photos with all four girls and then the girls by themselves and in various groups.

It was a half hour later when with reluctance he reminded them that they had a limo waiting.

"This is my first limo ride." Georgia said with a happy sigh.

"Really?" Cassidy asked in a shocked tone.

"Come on Cassidy, not everyone gets to ride in limos, man bro, if you are going to hang with me, we have to bring you down to the real world." Wallace said.

"What about the rest of you?" Ms. Fennell asked.

"I have been in one a few times." Veronica admitted.

"Same here." Meg said.

"First time, I was six." Mac admitted with a laugh.

"Oh dear, Cassidy please tell me you aren't that Casablancas boy." Mrs Mackenzie said slightly horrified.

"What did Dick do now?" He asked.

"We were on a field trip to the San Diego Zoo in first grade. Dick, Casey and this boy who moved away decided that we were going to visit with the koalas. I was the fourth in our group and they wouldn't listen to me when I said we were being left behind. Your dad had come to come get us in a limo."

Cassidy laughed and said to Mac's Mom. "I promise, I won't kidnap Mac and go visit the zoo. Not even Dick would do that, I think he finally outgrew that last year."

"Are you sure about that?" Veronica asked as they hugged their various parents and were escorted out to the long black stretch limo.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Cassidy was laughing as they left the Pizza parlor just outside of San Diego, "You would think that they never saw anyone dressed up before."

"Cassidy I think it might have more to do with Wallace and you eating a whole pizza pie each, Mac's insistence that nothing on her pizza having never had eyes and Georgia asking for iced tea no ice." Meg said as they walked back to the limo.

"That might be it." Mac teased the blond who had been afraid she would dump the ice on her dress, "Because I am sure it is perfectly normal for teenagers to exit a stretch limo in tuxes and ball gowns to enter a pizza parlor, we are near Neptune after all."

Looking around when he saw they were five and not six people, Wallace said "We lost Veronica, again."

"She's inside getting lasagna sent to her dad. She offered a hundred bucks to the delivery boy if he drove it there." Mac explained.

Veronica soon joined them back in the limo, her phone call to her dad going to voice mail. Dialing the house phone, she was about to tell him what she ordered when she heard voices. "Dad, who is at the house with you?"

"Just a few of the guys, Cliff wanted a poker rematch since we didn't get to the game last night." He lied then asked if they were having a good time.

"You promised no poker at the house unless I was available to play." She pouted.

"Veronica your well-earned reputation as a card shark aside, there are just some things a father can't talk about in front of his child. Blue Oyster Cult, Aqua Velva and shag carpeting are only some of them."

"Fine, go have your disgusting man's night. See if I care, I just wanted to clean their pockets out." She said before hanging up.

*LoVe*

Keith hung up his phone, looked at the motley crew gathered in his house and said "Veronica sends her love, and her regret at not being available to bankrupt each and every one of you at the poker game she thinks we are playing."

Cliff heard a few scoffs and looked at the Mayor. "She began to clean us out when she was ten. Ask Sinclair there, he couldn't believe that that sweet innocent little blond who tilted her head and asked if she could join for a few hands cleaned him out of five hundred bucks in three hands."

The dark haired man ruefully admitted that Cliff was right. "We had better get down to business; my wife will have my head if I am not at the high school on time. Mars, are you going?"

"No. Veronica told me not to bother that she was certain that she wouldn't win."

"How can she be so certain?" Cliff asked Jake Kane who was sitting next to him.

"She can't. We should go, separately of course." He said to Keith.

"I know Veronica and if she says she won't be winning, she won't. It's not false modesty boys." He said with a certainly that had Jake amused.

"Do you think she fixed the votes for someone else?" Sinclair asked his mind on his own daughter who was in the competition.

"Doubtful, the votes are fed into the computer and I wrote the security program the school uses." Jake said as they went back to discussing what to do about the mess created by an innocent man confessing to a murder he hadn't committed.

"Keith while I agree that the evidence we have is enough to get this Abel Koontz released, it's not enough to even arrest or get a search warrant against your other suspects." The judge said from where he was sitting.

"I was afraid of that." Keith said his eyes meeting Jake's. They had done half of what they had set out to do, free an innocent man who had agreed to being set up by Celeste but still had a long way to go to find Lilly's killer.

"Is my giving Koontz this money going to create trouble?" Jake asked.

"No, because thanks to that ticket Veronica found, we know that Lilly was still alive when Abel had his weekly hooker hook up." The Mayor said. "Keith how much longer is Lamb going to be Sheriff?"

"He isn't that bad of a cop, sir." Keith said.

"Two of the officers he hired after you left were just busted in my court room for getting free sex from hookers in exchange for the Seven Veils liqueur license not being pulled. He is incompetent at best and possibly corrupt."

"Did you hire that kid I recommended?" Keith asked, knowing that Leo had potential to be a good officer with some training.

"Yes." The Mayor then continued "I just want you officially back on the job. When Jake and you came to me with this plan, you promised six months, it is now almost a year later and you are only half way there."

"I know but we have whittled it down to three possible suspects from the larger group we had before." Keith said.

"Fine, but I want you more involved with supervising cases. Find a way, please." With that the Mayor, the Judge and Attorney Robert Sinclair all left leaving only Cliff and Jake with Keith.

"So, Veronica knows the truth about her parentage?" Cliff stated, knowing that both of these men had been victims of Lianne's lies and deceit but that Veronica had been the most innocent of victims.

Jake looked at the attorney who was clearly worried about the young blond. "Yes, do you have the paperwork still on file?"

"Yes, I gather your upcoming divorce is on your mind." Cliff asked.

"I know Celeste better than she thinks I do. I am certain one of her requests is going to be to disown Veronica legally. Mainly she is trying to keep her from ever inheriting a single dime from me but I already took care of that."

"At the time I didn't like the trust fund you set up and the other items but now knowing it is going to put a spike in Celeste's manipulations, I am not so pissed." Keith said as he looked at the clock. "Maybe we should go tonight."

"You think Veronica might win?" Jake said amused.

"I know that there was a plan to prevent that from happening." Keith admitted. "I know Mac is pretty good with a computer but I wasn't aware you had written the security system."

There was a knock on the door and when Keith opened it, the stoner youth standing there backed away then said "You, you're the sheriff, aren't you."

"What may I do for you?" Keith asked hoping that this boy wasn't stoned at work.

"Delivery dude! A present from a Miss Veronica Mars. She sent you Pontechellos twelve-layer lasagna. Have a nice day." With that he walked back to his car, thrilled at the second tip he had gotten for delivering this food.

Keith put the large take out container in the fridge, looked at Jake and Cliff then said "Time to go. _Dudes._ I hope his employer drug tests that kid."

*LoVe*

Duncan and Madison were in the back seat of their limo on their way to the high school gym. Both shocked to realize that they had been having a great time even if it really didn't change Duncan's plan.

"It's been fun." Duncan said as he looked at the blond wearing the white gown next to him. "I wasn't sure what to expect. I never really liked you but, you have a fun sense of life and I love how you make me laugh."

"Thanks." Her smile was genuine because she had originally gone out on this date for the status but she had to admit they had been having fun and time had just flown.

If Duncan hadn't set the watch on his cell phone they would have never left the restaurant in time to get to the dance.

Mrs. Kane had been friendly and encouraging, all the things Madison would have sworn she never was but she had taken photos, had told Madison she was sure that she was queen. That none of the competition could hold a candle to her.

Arriving at the parking lot, Madison smiled when Duncan got out first then offered her his hand out of an innate sense of manners she wasn't used to.

"My queen?" He said with a bow then placing her arm on his elbow, led her forward to what Madison was convinced was destiny. First up, the photographer taking pictures in the walkway!

*MaDi*

"Did you see that?" Logan asked pointing to what had just been enacted between Duncan and Madison. "The way he smiled at her."

"Yes." Dick said with a wide grin that quickly turned to a frown when he saw the fancy Ferrari parked off to the side of the building out of sight. "Your parents said we had to end them."

"Just because we separate them tonight, doesn't mean it will be permanent." Logan pointed out. "I think that Duncan made a love connection and Madison wants to rule the 09er girls, this she thinks is her way in."

Hearing Casey returning, Logan asked. "Single girls?"

"Mainly lower classmen." He turned to Dick and said "Though a tall blond girl asked where Cassidy was. It took a few minutes to figure out she was asking about Beaver. She seemed pretty down in the dumps when I said he was coming with his date later."

"A tall blond girl was asking for Beaver?" Dick said confused. "Really?"

"I heard her friends call her Hannah." Casey said.

Shrugging, Dick said "Never heard of her."

"So, are we sticking to the plan, no backing out, Dick?" Logan asked.

"It's not right that Beaver gets three dates and us none, he will just have to share, sort off." He said his mind on the cheat sheet in his pocket that was the beginning of his plan to convince Mac he wasn't such a bad guy.

*MaDi*

"We're almost here." Georgia squealed while Wallace winced at her overly excited attitude. Long term he didn't think sweet Ms. Georgia was going to last.

At the school, Wallace hopped out and held out his hand to Georgia who smiled brightly before letting him help her out of the limo.

Inside, Veronica and Mac were helping Meg fluff her dress while Cassidy hopped out only to be lifted up and held tightly. "Let me go you freak."

"Is that anyway to talk to your brother?" Logan asked from the side but looking at Dick said "You know you are wrinkling his tux."

Dropping Cassidy onto his feet, straightening his bow tie, pretending to look him over he said "We are stealing a few of your dates."

"Fine, just don't mess up my tux." He grumbled hoping Veronica and Mac didn't kill him as he reached in to help Meg get out of the car. "Skirt fluffed enough?"

"Yes." Her eyes widened and she stepped back knowing that both Logan and Dick were going to be in for a shock when they saw the last two girls. "Veronica, let Mac fix her shoes and get out here.

With that, Logan held out his hand knowing Veronica would be next out, thankful for Meg's help. When his favorite blond emerged from the limo, he couldn't help the sharp ping to his heart when he saw her wearing a red dress.

He could recall the back and forth between Veronica and Lilly last year but the part that truly claimed his emotions was that Veronica was wearing the necklace that Lilly had had made for her.

"You look... There are no words." He said as he took her in.

"You look pretty great yourself, but I have to ask. How did you know to wear a gray tux?" She asked as she ran her hand over the collar of his tux.

"I didn't, I guess I outgrew the jacket of my black one so I sent this one to the cleaners." He said.

"Did Dick know?" She asked showing him the dark gray wrist fabric connected to her lily corsage.

"Yes." He said his eyes going to the tall blond who seemed to have lost control of his muscles in his jaw. Then following Dick's eyes he saw they were on a long BARE leg that had just slide out of the limo. "Uh, Veronica, smack me now but when did Mac grow legs that look like that."

"She's always had them, but she usually covers them up. Why do you think Dick hit Ziggy the other day, he saw them."

"Wow!" Veronica couldn't help being amusement by Logan's reaction. "They're almost as sweet looking as yours, maybe you short girls aren't so short after all."

*LoVe*

Mac saw the hand reaching to help her out and slid across the seat. The skirt of her dress parted a bit as she double checked the clasp on her bracelet before taking the hand and reaching with her foot for the ground.

When she ducked to slip out of the car, she heard a couple of gasps and smiled, instead of getting nervous like she had promised Veronica and Meg.

When her second leg arrived on the ground, the slick feel of the material as it slithered down to cover her leg had Mac blushing at its unintended good feeling.

"Damn Mac." She heard and looking up she saw Casey standing there with his jaw wide open and his hand on his heart. "You look good."

"Thanks!" She said then looked at Dick who was still holding onto her hand but who looked shell-shocked. "Dick, what are you doing here?"

"School dance, a chance to party, why wouldn't I be here." He replied as he regained his senses. "Sides, Logan and I decided that it wasn't fair that little bro got all the girls of the court, so we are crashing your date."

"Really? What if we don't want you to crash our date?" She asked even as she reached to fix her wrap and hold her small tiny purse. When everything was in its correct position, she found her arm on the croak of his. "Did you ever think about that?"

"Nope." He said with a smile that had her laughing as they crossed the walk towards the school. "Besides you look too hot to be left alone without protection from all the horny teenage boys who would try to take advantage of your hottie-ness. "

"So you are you protecting me from all of that are you?" She asked thoughtfully. "Dick, there is only one thing wrong with your plan."

"Yes and what's wrong with the plan?" He asked with a sideways look at Mac.

"Who is going to be protecting you from me? I mean I could be a horny teenage girl who would want to take advantage of your hottie-ness. I could finally decide to do what I offered last month in the quad."

"Oh damn, stop that." He moaned his brain providing images from his stock of constant fantasies about her. Looking at her, he licked his lips to stop the drool from dripping and said "At least for tonight, if after tonight you feel the need to lose control of yourself, I am yours, anytime, anywhere, any way you want."

Moving in just enough to brush against his arm, Mac said softly "In your dreams, pretty boy."

"You have no fucking idea." He replied a bit too honestly and Casey who was following them, dropped off to lean against some lockers as he got what was going on in Dick's imagination.

*MaDi*

"Look, they are here." Lauren was saying to her mom as they waited to see Madison. She didn't care that the football team had won, she didn't care about any of that, and she was just there to see her big sister on the Homecoming court. "Duncan Kane is so handsome."

Her mother smiled as Madison in her white spaghetti strapped ball gown crossed the school lobby and was greeted by her friends and seemed to make peace with her best friend Shelly.

Mrs. Sinclair watched as Madison waved their way then went inside but when Lauren asked if that meant they could go now, she asked if she wanted to see the others.

A group of seniors entered, whispers mentioning that the four girls were all on the senior court and Lauren asked the woman standing next to her if that meant only Madison was on the junior court.

"No, there were three other girls; my son is arriving with them." Alicia answered with pride as she heard her son's name being called out by a tall boy she was sure was on the basketball team. "They must have just arrived. That's my son Wallace."

"He's very handsome." Mrs. Sinclair said "And the young lady.

"Georgia, I think she is a sophomore." She stated then watched as a gaggle of girls encircled her son and his date. When Wallace came over, he had two girls on his arm. "Mom,"

"This isn't one of the girls you left with." She said after hugging him.

"This is Hannah. Her parents didn't let her come with a boy. She came with a group of girls. Hannah, this is my mom."

"Hannah is stalking Cassidy Casablancas." Georgia said with a giggle as she hugged her now embarrassed friend.

"Where are the others?" Alicia asked.

"Meg's skirt needed fluffed." Georgia offered up.

The elder Sinclairs watched as the various teens crossed towards the gym, the beautiful dark haired girl dressed in purple teasing her tall familiar looking blond date, causing them to grasp each others hand in support. "She is becoming an adult."

"We missed so much." Her husband answered as he reached down and hugged Lauren just a bit closer.

*LoVe*

Hannah turned to watch as the beautiful blond girl wearing the ice blue strapless A Line gown with the darker blue ribbon entered the viewing area with her hand on Cassidy Casablancas arm. "They look like they are having a great time."

"Who is she?" Asked Lauren fascinated by the almost fairy princess look of the girl.

"Meg Manning." Alicia offered when her son and his friends had walked away. "She is on the junior court."

"Poor Madison." Lauren said as something within her got that her sister might not win the crown she wanted so badly that evening.

"There is Veronica." Keith's voice was heard as he walked to stand nearby with another man.

Lauren looked at Veronica and knew "She is on the court too?"

"Yes." Mrs. Sinclair said with a slight smile when she saw the petite girl wearing the strapless dark burgundy sheath gown. "She looks so grown up, doesn't she?"

*MaDi*

Aaron and Lynn watched as Veronica and Logan's entrance caused gasps from both the parents and their classmates. When Logan said something to Veronica, she blushed and seemed to realize everyone was staring.

"Logan, over here." Lynn called out. When her son and his 'date' walked over she said "Dumped poor Dick already, did you?"

"Don't feel too sorry for Dick. You should see the girl he picked up." Logan said then with a sideways glance at Veronica added. "Long, long legs."

"Logan, you do know that Mac can hack the school records and you could end up going to summer school don't you?" Veronica said as she laughed.

"She wouldn't." He said clearly afraid.

"Who do you think found the person to make that bong?" She whispered.

"I knew that was you." He said pointing at her heatedly. "My dad gave me the 'its okay if you are gay talk,' Ronnie. Mom made me take a drug test."

"We are going inside. Dad; Mr. Clemmons asked you to be the chaperone, that means you can't be caught groping mom in a dark corner." With that Logan and Veronica went inside.

"I never grope." Aaron said then added "Just once I want to get the last word with that boy."

"Our little boy is growing up so fast." Lynn wiped a tear but hearing Keith calling out to Veronica had her turning to watch as they hugged one another. "It seems like they are dealing with the news, I hope it all works out."

When Lynn realized Aaron wasn't paying any attention and was wearing the same smirk she had just seen on their son's face, she turned to see what was going on. Seeing Dick's entranced gaze on a dark haired girl wearing the purple gown she knew was a Dior original, she said "I tried that gown on for the Oscars last year."

"I remember. Looks like Logan is right about Dick." Looking at Mac and recalling his wife in that gown, Aaron said "There was a green one too, I liked that dress. Why didn't you buy it?"

"It was too young of a dress for a woman my age." She said with an envious sigh when she saw the beautiful young teenager with Dick. "She looks lovely and like Veronica she wears the dress, the dress doesn't wear her."

*LoVe*

Inside the ballroom, Madison was preening as her friends all gathered around where she was standing on Duncan's arm. Watching her classmates dancing and partying, Madison found herself enjoying a school function without any worries of being over shadowed like she used to be Lilly and her former sidekick Veronica.

"Wow!" She heard Troy saying and turning to thank the jerk, she felt her eyes narrow when she realized he wasn't looking at her, but instead seemed to be gapping at the three girls who had entered the gym.

"Is that Logan with Veronica?" Shelly asked; stunned to realize it was Logan with the blond. "Wow, Cole, how the mighty has fallen, you have been replaced by Cassidy Casablancas."

Scoffing the jerk turned to look and said "Well he is more her type, willing to never have sex EVER. Who's that with Dick?"

Madison didn't know at first but then she heard Tad's tacky girlfriend's answer and was pissed when she announced that it was Mac Mackenzie. "No way in hell that is geek girl."

*MaDi*

Most of the parents outside had left, those chaperoning went inside to help keep the dance G rated and the teachers kept the hallways cleared out.

Veronica watched as Cassidy asked Meg to dance while Dick did the same with Mac. That particular pair had her watching carefully worried about the blond hurting her friend by pulling his usual player crap on her.

"Dance with me?" Logan offered.

With a rueful smile she said "You do realize if we dance together we will have people staring at us."

"They are already staring, let's just forget about them and have some fun." Logan said as they walked to the dance floor.

"This has been so much fun." Meg said as they returned to their small little part of the gym. Their classmates had stopped over to greet them, had wished them well and most importantly there had been no trouble.

"I think that is about to change." Veronica said as she saw Logan and Duncan standing off to the side of the concession stand. Looking for Dick, hoping he would join the two boys, she saw he was busy dancing with Mac on the other side of the gym.

*LoVe*

Duncan was furious at the idea of Logan coming to the dance with Veronica. It was Logan's fault, his attacks on her that had created the chasm between them socially. Veronica would have already been his if it wasn't for Logan. "Who do you think you are?"

Logan gritted his teeth and turned to greet Duncan. "Hello, Duncan. Nice to see you, too."

"I asked you, who do you think you are? To bring Veronica to this dance, after all the crap you said about her." He hotly asked glaring at the dark haired boy.

"I only escorted her in, I didn't come with her. I screwed up; I hurt her because I was a mess." Logan looked at the other boy, trying not to create a worse mess. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to get back to our table. I have to rejoin my friends."

Duncan was determined to make damn sure that that was all Logan and Veronica were. He had already paid to make sure that by the end of the night he would have had a chance to convince Veronica that they were each others future.

Looking across the gymnasium to where Madison was waiting Duncan let it go, for now. Tomorrow when they went on their surfing trip, he would deal with Logan if it was still necessary.

Walking back across to where Madison was waiting, Duncan was not paying attention to his surroundings until he ran straight into Dick dancing with that geek girl.

"Be careful, man." Dick said gathering the dark haired girl closer to him.

Duncan's eyes went to where the girl who didn't belong in their world was all but snuggling against one of the more snobby 09ers and said "Slumming Dick? If you brought her to the dance, she must be pretty good in bed. Maybe I should find out when you grow bored and dump her.

Mac saw Dick's hands flexing and that he was getting ready to hit the creep. Reaching out to hold his arm, she said "Dick, don't."

"Yeah, don't Dick. We both know that when you sober up you will regret choosing her over your friends." Duncan said scornfully.

Cassidy had been dancing with Hannah at Meg's urging when he saw his brother's face turning red and that Mac seemed to be trying to calm him down.

"Excuse me." He said as moved over to stand beside Dick faced Duncan. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing." Duncan said muttering as he shoved past the two brothers and went to where his date was waiting.

*MaDi*

The three of them moved towards where Veronica and the rest were waiting. "What happened?"

"Duncan is no longer hiding his animosity." Mac replied trying to hide how the words he had uttered had wounded her. "He basically called me a whore."

Dick was trying to console Mac so Logan waited a few minutes then said to Dick "He went after you instead of coming directly after me. Not good, man."

Meg looked at Cassidy who was staring at Duncan. "What is it?"

"He is furious. He is staying calm because this is too public. There are too many people watching. Attacking Mac, he thinks that is acceptable because he sees himself as above her but his anger is still growing." Cassidy had spent years hiding his emotions and knew how to read when someone else was doing the same.

*MaDi*

Clemmons looked at the clock, saw it was close to nine and gathered Ms. Hauser and Mr. Rook before heading towards the small stage that the DJ was working on.

Taking out the two crowns and two tiaras, he pulled the envelope with the winners of the names printed on them. "Ladies and gentlemen and students, please gather around. I would like the eight juniors nominated for the Homecoming court to join us on stage as we announce your name.

"Logan Echolls." Logan walked over hamming it up when he heard the roars and was directed to the last x on the stage.

"John Enblom." The roars were slightly more muted as the dark haired young man went to stand next to Logan.

"This is so cheesy." He muttered to his classmate.

"Casey Gant." There was a larger roar then he had expected but for Veronica and Mac who had campaigned on his behalf this week it meant that they plan had worked.

"And last but not least, Duncan Kane." There was clapping but it seemed more forced then anything else to Madison's surprise who had long thought Duncan was the most popular of the 09ers after Logan.

"Now if the young ladies would like to join me. Madison Sinclair." Mr. Clemmons announced. Directing Madison to the fairest x opposite the boys, he continued "Veronica Mars."

Veronica blushed as she heard the catcalls and clapping as she went up.

"Meg Manning." When the blond had gone to the stage, Clemmons called out Cindy Mackenzies' name. A buzz went  
through the crowd as the four girls were all lined up.

From where they were sitting, Georgia and Hannah were talking about the differences in the four girls on stage. "Meg is the princess; Veronica has the look of the glamour girl and that other girl Mac looked like one of those girls that light the OLYMPIC torch, all dark hair and pale skin."

"Georgia, you spent some time with them, is one of them like interested in Cassidy?" She asked shyly.

"I don't know, but Cassidy did seem to watch Mac a lot tonight." Georgia said being as honest as possible not wanting her friend to get hurt.

"I thought she is dating his brother, I mean, he escorted her into the gym." Hannah replied her eyes on who she saw as the competition.

"Yes but he wasn't in the limo with us and I think that if Mac had gotten out with Cassidy; Dick would have just escorted Meg or Veronica in." Georgia replied.

"Oh." Hannah said glumly.

"Just watch them this week, once school is back in session, you should be able to figure out if they are dating." Georgia suggested then admitted. "I don't think Wallace and I will be dating long. I don't really like his mom all that much."

*LoVe*

Clemmons opened the paper and announced. "Our junior homecoming king is Casey Gant."

Casey was shocked, he hadn't expected to win, not with Logan and Duncan on the court but he played around with the crown when Clemmons put it on his head and blew kisses to the audience to the amusement of the girls out in it.

He went to speak to Logan and John who both pretended to bow down to him but when he turned to Duncan there was a completely different reaction as the taller boy all but shoved him away. "What the hell is going on? Since when is this a big deal for you, Duncan?"

Noticing the growing darkness in his classmate's eyes, Casey moved to stand next to Mr. Rook while the vice principal unfolded the other paper in his hands. "And our junior homecoming queen is... Drum roll please; Meg Manning."

Meg was immediately hugged by Mac and Veronica and in spite of looking a bit upset, Madison as well. "Sorry Madison."

"It's fine; at least if I had to lose it was to you and not either of them." Madison said with clenched teeth as she glared at Mac and Veronica. Madison moved back, playing the gracious loser even as she was clearly whispering a demand for a recount from Ms. Hauser.

When Clemmons went to place the tiara on Meg's head, there was a gasp then the sound of Duncan Kane's voice loudly demanding what Madison had been whispering.

"I want a recount." He snapped at the vice principal. "Someone changed the votes."

"Mr. Kane your father himself set up this security program, I assure you that the results are what were put into the computer." Van Clemmons was not a happy man as the teenager moved forward and snatched the tiara from his hand.

"I don't care, the results were changed and I can prove it." He snarled. "I know what they said and it wasn't Meg who was homecoming queen."

Madison moved forward embarrassed at Duncan saying so publicly what she privately thought. "While I appreciate your belief in me, I am fine with not being crowned."

"You?" Duncan said with a smirk. "While I like you Madison, you have got to have the largest undeserved ego of any girl I have ever met. You didn't win; hell you didn't even really make the court. According to my inside man, Shelly Pomeroy made the court, not you."

"Mr. Kane those are very serious allegations." Mr. Clemmons said "Why don't we go to my office and talk about it?"

"No. Look, I saw the numbers last night, I know that Veronica Mars was to be crowned queen and that I was tops as king. I can prove it, Veronica's student ID number is #135086, that is who was supposed to win."

Clemmons looked at the list and saw that he was right; the student ID number was 135086. "Are you saying that Ms Manning changed the results?"

"No, but someone did. Someone who didn't want me to dance with Veronica. Veronica deserves this crown." He said holding the rhinestone tiara out to the girl he hoped to win.

"Uh, Duncan that isn't my student ID number." Veronica said as she pulled her ID out. Handing it to Mr. Clemmons, she said "See, mine is 135091, not 086."

Clemmons was getting annoyed so turning to the girl who his records showed should have been crowned he asked for her ID and a flushed Meg handed it over. "Meg Manning, 18648 South Coast Road, Neptune California, birth date 4/22/87. Student ID number 135086. It seems that I am crowning the correct girl."

"No, I know that is wrong." Duncan shouted and turned to glare at Mac who was standing beside Ms. Hauser and Veronica. "I know you switched them out, I know it. You did this; you want to keep us apart. I won't let you, why can't you get the message. Veronica isn't your friend; she is too good for you, for all of you."

As the junior continued to watch his meltdown, he walked backwards and almost shoved Meg off the stage in his determination to prove his accusations correct. Thankfully Casey caught Meg before she fell but the blond was still shaking as Duncan tried to take his case to the student body.

"You know I am right. You all know that the rumors were lies spread by Logan Echolls and his friends." Duncan said, his eyes burrowing in on his now former friend.

There were murmurs as the students began to realize something was wrong with Duncan. No one knew what to say or do. The teachers didn't know if they should call the police or his parents, the students were too fascinated and yet repulsed as the boy paced back and forth on the makeshift stage.

"I can prove it; I can prove that Veronica was supposed to win." He was yelling as he pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "You were supposed to make Veronica Queen; I paid you to make sure she won."

There was a disembodied voice saying he had done just that, that he had fixed things the night before.

Clemmons regained control just enough to say out loud. "Is that Thomas Clare, the IT expert the school hired?"

"Shit." They heard then the sound of someone hanging up on the other end of the line and a few nervous chuckles from the audience.

"Mr. Kane, I think you and I need to go to my office." Van suggested reaching out for Duncan's arm only for him to flick his arm, shaking Clemmons off him like he was nothing more than a flea.

"No, not until you expel that geek, I know she altered the results, she had to have. It's the only way that I lost, the only way that Meg won over Veronica." Duncan's eyes were wild as he shouted.

"Veronica, we should back up." Mac was saying when Duncan suddenly turned their way and charged towards them. The blond was trying to put Mac behind her at the same time as Logan was trying to get to the girls.

He had stayed still, hoping to prevent Duncan from losing it any more but clearly his former best friend was well past the boiling point. "Duncan, you need to calm down."

"You need to shut up, Logan. Do you think I don't know what you did and why you did it? You want Veronica all to yourself, it's why you told so many lies, and it's why you tried to turn her against me." He snarled as he stopped his forward movement just enough to attack Logan.

"Duncan, you were the one lying. Lilly and I were trying to help save you, but you kept telling people that you were dating Veronica when you knew she didn't like you like that."

"She liked me, SHE ALWAYS, ALWAYS LIKED ME MORE. You were just jealous." He said now moving towards Logan and ignoring the girls. Ms Hauser got a crying Madison and a stunned Meg off the stage when Duncan realized what is going on.

Reaching out, he grasped onto Mac and yanked her forwards, his hands tightening cruelly on her arms as he demanded she tell the truth, that she tell everyone what she done. "Tell them; tell them how you are trying to keep Veronica and me apart."

"Duncan, there is something wrong with you." She tried saying as her updo came loose and her flower drooped from the ferociousness. "Lets call your parents, lets call your Mom, okay?"

Logan tried to move forward to free Mac but Mr. Rook got in his way. "No, let the adults handle this."

"What are they doing to handle this because to me it looks like you are just standing around with your thumbs up your asses?" He said pushing the man out of the way. "Duncan, let Mac go."

John had followed teachers' orders to get off the stage and now it was only Logan and Casey on stage along with Clemmons who was making a call for help.

"Duncan, what are you doing man?" Casey asked as he saw Logan trying to get closer to the other two. Seeing movement, he saw that Dick and Logan's dad were just off the stage, along with a few others of their male classmates.

"Get away Casey. This doesn't concern you." Duncan answered without releasing Mac. "This bitch, she tried to take away Veronica, she is trying to ruin my plan."

With that he started to shake the dark haired girl again. Logan rushed him and got in close enough to try to pry Duncan's hands off of Mac whose hair had fallen completely out of its pins from how hard Duncan had been shaking her.

"Veronica, do you have your little friend?" Clemmons was asking, totally ill prepared to deal with the ranting boy. This was beyond anything that he had been trained to deal with.

"It's in my purse, which is at the table." She said softly but thankfully loud enough for Meg to hear. The distraught blond was about to rush over when she saw Wallace carrying the purse over. Taking out the stun gun, hoping she could use it without hurting Mac, Meg went to move forward planning on stunning Duncan around his ankles.

"Meg, let us do that." She heard Dick saying as he took the gun then handed it to Beaver next to him. "We have to be careful so that you don't just enrage him even more."

*MaDi*

Logan's eyes never came off Duncan as he edged Veronica behind him hoping to get her off stage to where Dick was holding the stun gun. "Go get Mr. Sparky from Dick."

Nodding that she understood, Veronica heard Duncan shouting her name and screaming at her to get back there. "Let Mac go."

"No, don't you see, she is keeping us apart. She must be punished for that." He said his mind traveling further and further away from reality.

"Mac isn't doing anything, Duncan, except being my friend. Why can't you get it, I don't like you that way." She said getting more and more upset as she saw the pain on Mac's face. "Please, Duncan, just let her go."

"Back away." Duncan suddenly said, turning with Mac in front of him towards the crowd that seemed to be making plans to change towards him. "Back away or I will hurt her."

"Duncan, you are already hurting her, can't you see that." Veronica said. "You don't want to hurt Mac; she has done nothing to you."

Mac had regained her footing, vowing to never wear heels again as Duncan was distracted by Veronica. When she looked down, she saw that Cassidy was moving closer to Veronica and had her stun gun in his hand, Mac had an idea. "Duncan, let me go."

"Shut up, you bitch." Duncan said as he pulled her close to his body and was mere millimeters away from her face. "You are a nobody. A nothing who..."

There was the sound of a painful yowl heard throughout the gym as Duncan shouted then they heard him moaning loudly as he landed on the floor of the stage holding himself.

Dick yanked Mac into his arms, feeling bad when she winced as his hand landed on her reddened upper arms. "Sorry about grabbing you, but nice job kicking him in the balls."

"It's fine." She said watching as Veronica was being held tightly by Logan. "He just went nuts. I wasn't expecting that."

Cassidy and Meg hugged Mac then Veronica who had moved around a prone Duncan still holding Logan's hands.

When Duncan started to sit up then charge at them, there was a slight buzzing sound then the taller boy whirled and screamed at Veronica that she had betrayed him.

"You need help, Duncan." She sadly replied but before the boy could be restrained, he rushed past the few people between the door and himself and outside.

"Let him go, let the police track him down." Mr. Clemmons ordered then hearing the sound of sirens suggested that those involved come outside and that Mr. Morehead crown the seniors."

No one seemed to want any part of that as they followed the group outside to the lobby. Aaron saw his wife heading his way and they moved towards where their son and his friends were gathered around Sheriff Lamb who seemed to not be able to believe what they were telling him.

When Lamb kept saying he had no proof, several students offered their cell phones with cameras and he had no  
choice but to put out an APB on one Duncan Kane.

Getting onto the radio, Lamb called "Sacks take the new deputy and head over to the Kane Manor, if you locate Duncan Kane, detain him for aggravated assault."

"Sir, sir!" Ziggy Thomas came around the corner of the school and said "Kane is smashing someone's Ferrari."

"Stay here." Sheriff Lamb ordered and told the officer with him to follow him.

The crowd ignored Lamb's order and went to the corner of the building and gasped in shock at the violent sight of Duncan Kane holding some sort of a metal pole and smashing Aaron Echolls cherry red Ferrari.

The windows were long gone and there were deep gashes in the carbon fiber body of the expensive sports car. The Kane boy was currently smashing the roof and screaming out loud.

"Duncan, put the pole down." Lamb was heard saying.

"Fuck off." Was the reply as the teenager turned still holding the pole that looked like it might be from part of the floral display in front of the school.

"Duncan, put the pole down, lay down on the ground." Don Lamb ordered yet again this time unsnapping his gun still in his holster when he saw the wild expression in the boy's eyes.

"Or what, Deputy?" the teenager mocked the man with the lower title. "You're going to shoot me? My dad is the only reason you have that job. So do you really think I believe you will shoot me?"

"Duncan, stop." Jake had arrived from the Neptune Grand after a call from Aaron Echolls that had warned him about what was going on.

"Go away, you are the reason all of this is happening." Duncan was now sobbing as he took another swing at the sports car and took out the headlights.

A few minutes later, Sheriff Lamb got close enough to the Kane boy to use his own taser and put him on the ground. "Duncan Kane, you are under arrest for aggravated assault, destruction of private property and whatever else the DA can find to charge you with."

*LoVe*

Mac wasn't happy to be ordered to go to the hospital but when she saw Veronica's hands shaking, she said "Only if you come with me."

"We both will." Meg said her eyes watching as Jake Kane spoke to Sheriff Lamb who had ordered his deputies to take Duncan to the station and to book him.

Wallace wasn't happy when his mom showed up and insisted he go with her, that they would drive Georgia home. Hugging his best friend, he promised to call Veronica the next day and left with his mom.

"Boys, I think you should go home. Logan, drive your Mom home for me, I have to go to the station." Aaron said as he went to speak to Lamb.

"Sorry about your Ferrari, Mr. Echolls." Casey said as the four boys went towards the big yellow SUV parked in the student parking lot.

"Guys, I will see you later." Casey said when they got to the lot. Seeing the limo waiting, he saw his grandmother inside and knew she had to have come to watch the presentation. "That's my grandmother."

Lynn suggested that they take Cassidy and Dick home first and Logan silently drove across Neptune and dropped off his friends before heading to their house.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I was going to go with Veronica, but she said that Mac needed her." He replied with a heavy sigh. "I knew he was sick, Mom."

"We all did, I just think that none of us really knew how bad he is." She said as they pulled into the drive. "It's different after seeing it right in front of you. I know your father and I were shocked and we had heard from you what happened at the Kane house.

*MaDi*

Don Lamb was having a bad night, but it got worse when the Mayor showed up along with the press. "What is this I hear that Duncan Kane attacked two girls at Homecoming and then smashed Aaron Echolls car?"

"Yes, I was just about to call the DA to have him come in and arraign him so that he can go home with his parents." Don said as he entered the station.

"Sir, the various students attending tonight sent us copies of their videos of the Kane kid losing it, plus the school had someone there filming the dance for their morning news show." Sacks stated.

"Where is my son?" Jake asked as he walked up to Don Lamb.

"In Interrogation Room two." The young new dark haired deputy said as he walked from behind the small bull pen gate. "Sacks just sent your wife and your attorney to join him."

Turning to the Mayor, Jake said "I want to arrange for a psyche evaluation. My son is on drugs to help prevent violent attacks due to the form of epilepsy that he suffers from. Don't let my wife arrange bail for him."

With that, Jake went to make a few calls and heard a voice mail from Keith Mars that had him feeling a sense of relief. Returning he heard the hospital had called the Sheriff to let him know that the Mackenzie girl had severe bruising on the upper arms but was otherwise unharmed and that Meg Manning had scratches where Duncan had shoved her out of the way.

Going towards the room holding his son, Jake tried to regain control before confronting Duncan and counted to ten.

Entering, he was saying Duncan's name when he saw that his son wasn't there. Walking back out, double checking the door number, he checked the room next door then returned to the bull pen only to be told that the Mayor and the Sheriff had gone into the largest office.

Nodding at Aaron who was giving a report to an officer about his car, Jake moved towards the office and asked upon entering. "Where is my son, he isn't in the Interrogation room."

With an annoyed look at Lamb, the Mayor said "Your attorney's arranged for someone to wake up the DA and Judge Brown who arraigned Duncan before charges were even agreed upon. He released Duncan on his own recognizance and agreed to let him attend an out of state school to help with his anger issues."

Swearing, Jake looked at the Sheriff and said "This is not going to help my son. Why didn't you tell me what my wife was up to?"

"She asked me not to mention it in front of any of the deputies out of fear of their allegiance being to Keith Mars and out of fear of Aaron Echolls anger over his car." Don Lamb said. "She assured me that your son would return for his trial."

"And that is enough, is it? Did the judge at least sign orders of protection for Ms. Mackenzie, Ms Manning and Ms. Mars?" The Mayor asked furious with the man.

"Why would he, obviously this was an extraordinary situation." Lamb said. "I am sure that the…"

Jake stood and walked out of the room not wanting to hear another word as he went to his waiting car and called Clarence Weidman. Hearing his security chief's response, grateful for the man's help, he asked "Where is she?"

"At the house, she sent Duncan straight to the airport and out of town to that school in Maine. I made a call; she had been making plans to send him there for a few weeks." Clarence hesitated then said "We intercepted the jet, sent him where you wanted."

"Thank you, I have to go tell her, it's too late. She is still trying to cover this up, trying to fix things so that Duncan can achieve the goals she wants for him." Jake said wearily as he drove towards the estate he had purchased for his family to grow up in.

Seeing his wife seating on the sofa in the formal and cold living room, Jake said "It's too late, Celeste. Too many people know what happened. There are too many videos of Duncan's meltdown. Let it go."

"People like an underdog." She said looking at Jake. "He will come back, fixed and they will forget people have short memories when you are rich."

"Celeste… Duncan won't be going where you wanted him to. I did what I had to do, he is on his way to that hospital in Switzerland, I will know everything going on with Duncan. If he isn't well, he won't be released, I won't risk it."

With a bitter laugh, she said "Of course not, after all Duncan isn't your precious Lianne's child."

"Why? WHY CAN'T YOU GET THAT LIANNE AND I WERE INVOLVED IN HIGH SCHOOL, NOT NOW." He snapped angrily. "I am not in love with Lianne."

"You were, weren't you?" She snarled.

"Yes, I was, and the answer to the unasked question, no, I never loved you. We had a chance but you never let it go, let my past go." He snarled. "I married you."

"Because I was pregnant and for no other reason." She replied with a bitter glare at him.

"Celeste…" Jake stood, walked to the doorway, and then looked back at her. "I gave us chance after chance. We both know that our marriage is ending not because of Veronica, but because there has never been any passion between us."

"What are you talking about?" She sneered.

"Oh you are passionate about our son, about the money and the prestige of being married to me but about me, no. I am the computer geek who was going to make good, so you married me. If I had been poor, you would have aborted Lilly."

With that, Jake finally left the room and went up to Duncan's bedroom then walked down to Lilly's and admitted to himself that this was for the best.

*LoVe*

Mac flinched as the nurse took the last of the pictures and thanked her for her patience. "Would you send my friends back in?"

When Meg and Veronica came back in, she asked "Did you reach your parents?"

"My dad cancelled chasing his bail jumper. I told him I would be fine, but he insisted I come home to talk in the morning." Veronica explained.

"My parents were not too thrilled but said that they understood my wanting my friends around me tonight." Mac said. "They went home like I suggested.

"My parents were fine once they were sure I was okay." Meg replied.

"Good." Mac said with a determined smile. "Is the limo still here?"

"Ready and waiting to take us wherever we want to go." Veronica promptly announced. "I talked to the driver, he was he was paid for the entire evening and given a good tip to stay with us." Veronica didn't tell them that the guy was a former body guard who apparently knew her dad.

"So, I have a plan, at least if my duffel bag is still in the trunk of the limo." Mac said as they got ready to leave. Hearing her phone begin to beep as she turned it on, Mac saw several messages and texts from Dick.

"What is it?" Meg asked.

"Have you talked to Logan or Dick since we left?" Mac asked.

"They went home; Logan had to drive his mom home because of the damage to the Ferrari." Veronica said. "They dropped Dick and Cassidy off on the way after Casey's mysterious grandmother showed up."

"I let Cassidy know you are okay, Mac." Meg said. "He sent me a text saying thank you and that he was going to go to bed."

"I was thinking that we should go to the beach where I will give you my last surprise." Mac said with a slight chuckle.

"Are you sure you are up to it?" Veronica asked concerned.

"Yes, I want to do this, want to create a memory to override what Duncan tried to do, we all need that." Mac replied.

They arrived at the secluded beach, still wearing their gowns but kicking off their shoes and removing their stockings. Mac handed Veronica the bag, then Meg the large blanket as she reached into the large trunk and pulled out her surprise.

"Mac, how did you get that?" Meg asked surprised to see the three bottles of wine.

"I ordered it online." She said with a happy smirk as they walked across the beach and placed the blanket on the sand before settling down comfortably on top of it.

"Why are we here, Mac?" Veronica asked.

With a blush, Mac said "You told me about your I never game last year. I was thinking, you could fulfill your last I never."

Looking back at the guard, she said "The guard will keep anyone away."

A few feet away, the two boys who had come to the beach after a hellish night. Hearing the sound of the girls' voices; Dick stood, tossing the whiskey bottle to Logan and moved around the dunes then fell to the ground. After eavesdropping for a bit Dick said. "Shit, Logan, it's the girls and they are taking their clothes off."

Logan moved towards where Dick was now reclining against the dunes and found himself being pulled down next to him. "What are you doing?"

"They are naked, Logan." He pointed out. "WE can't let them know we are here."

On the other side of the dunes, Meg, Mac and Veronica were rushing towards the water naked, the two boys covered their eyes, not wanting to be jackasses but also not wanting to leave as midnight came…

All of them trying to move past their terrible night, all of them finding comfort in their friends. All would learn things that rock their worlds, all would reveal secrets to one another but all were feeling a sense of relief as they believed that the worst was already known.

They were wrong.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I went on vacation and couldn't update. Sorry readers. Anyhow to make up for the lost time, I will be updating EVERY SINGLE DAY this week. So, here is the next chapter. Thanks to all who have read and reviewed. Reviews make my muse happy, my muse being happy makes me eager to write. **

Chapter Eight

Veronica looked at Mac and then at the waves hitting the shore before saying "I am not drunk enough yet, to do this Mac."

"Figured you would say that." Mac replied with a laugh. "It's why I brought the wine along with snacks."

Meg dived for the duffel bag and laughed herself when she saw the entire meal inside. "How did you fit so much into this bag?"

"Harry Potter's magical bottomless bag?" Mac offered then sheepishly admitted "When I planned this, I forgot shoes. All we have are shorts and T-shirts plus towels for drying off."

"I guess that means I can't swim in my underclothes?" Meg asked blushing.

Mac stood then making sure her shoes were out of the way, took the bottle of wine and went towards the shore calling back "Are you coming?"

Both girls scrambled after her carrying the wine glasses as they saw Mac's gown making her look even more like Greek princess as she walked along the shore.

"Meg do you want to start the I never?" Mac as she poured a glass of wine for each of them.

"I never… had to pretend to put a condom on a banana." With a scowl Mac and Veronica drank some wine.

"That's not fair, Meg. You were in that class too." Mac pointed out.

"My parent's religious convictions saved me from that particularly embarrassing episode." She serenely replied. "Veronica, it's your turn."

Veronica thought about then said "I have never been to second base with a boy."

No one drank, all looking at each other, and then Mac asked. "Meg, what about with Cole?"

"I didn't want someone who would have informed his friends. I just felt bad about dumping him, and then ended up the dumped." Meg said with a shrug.

"It's my turn to toast." Mac said then looking at the two of them said "I have never… dressed up as a Grand housemaid."

Veronica called foul and drank from her glass. "If my dad EVER finds out I am so dead."

Meg laughed then said "I have never watched a porno."

Veronica looked at the blond and uncertainly asked "The whole thing or even just a bit?"

"It includes any little bit." Meg said solemnly.

Mac and Veronica both drank and Meg demanded explanations. "I walked in on Logan and Duncan watching one. They pretended not to have been but I knew."

Mac blushed then said "I was tutoring someone; hit play on the DVD player while he went to get us some snacks and will only say I will never do that again."

Mac realizing how far they were suggested that they head back the other way. Looking down at her feet that were now covered with wet sand, she asked "Does anyone know when high tide is?"

"According to the weather man high tide will land early tomorrow morning." Veronica promptly replied. "We are fine. I have never… played mind games with Dick."

Mac grinned then drank only to see Meg looking at her. "What?"

"What did you say to him that day?" She asked. "I mean; it's Dick. He says things himself that are explicit all day long."

"You can't repeat a word I say." She threatened. When they both agreed, Mac said "It was more inferred than an outright offer."

"What did Dick think you meant?" Meg asked while Veronica refilled their glasses.

"I kind of indicated that when I well, when I uh, when I self-pleasured that it was a fantasy about Veronica, Dick and myself." Mac said stuttering as she said the names. "I never used Veronica or his name. I swear the names were only inferred."

Mac then added "I also mentioned that I have a thing for cucumbers and the last time the time he ran off, I kind of implied that I had bought a new toy on the Internet and I would love to share it with him."

"What kind of a toy?" Meg asked then had an epiphany "I get it. An adult toy."

"He took it to be a vibrator; in truth, it was pepper spray." Mac confessed to the laughter of the other two. "I learned with my parents when telling a lie make sure that there was something of the truth in it."

"But that means… just who do you dream of when you…" Veronica couldn't get the words out.

"I have dreamed of that particular boy naked. There were fire ants involved and honey though." Mac stated as they were three quarters of the way back down to towards the dune end of the beach without answering the question. "Now that I know the real reasons they were so mean I feel bad about it."

Veronica laughed and admitted "I had similar dreams involving shoving Logan into a pit of vipers or the paparazzi naked."

"Veronica, just how did he end up naked in this dream? Mac, just how did Dick end up naked in yours because I really doubt he just obeyed your order to get naked."

"He really did." Mac admitted rather thoughtfully. "I just told him to undress and he did, the thing is he was always fuzzy."

"At least I could imagine Logan completely naked; after all I have seen him that way." Veronica unwisely confessed.

"OH MY GOODNESS? Really?" Meg asked.

"What happens at the beach stays at the beach." Mac reminded her.

"Last year the week after Lilly died. I stormed to the Echolls house and saw his parents leaving. I already had the gate code so I let myself in. He was in his room and drunk."

Veronica could still recall how Logan had looked. "I was upset and angry with myself for wanting to comfort him in spite of what he had said to me that day at school. I knew where the Echolls kept the key to the liquor cabinet for the pool house and decided to get drunk after my confrontation with him."

Veronica's emotions were back at the pool house that day as she started talking. "I thought that Logan hated me and I was sick to realize that I still was in serious like with him."

"Veronica." Meg and Mac both felt sick for their friend as they got what she really meant.

"How did you end up seeing Logan naked?" Meg asked really wanting to know the answer to that question as well as why she decided to get drunk at Logan's home.

"He was blackout drunk. Thankfully I had only drunk a glass of Mr. Echoll's scotch when I saw Logan fall into the pool."

"I dragged him out the pool and tried to wake him up but it wasn't working, so I went to put him into the pool house bed wearing wet swim clothes. I was worried he would get sick."

With a now pink face, Veronica said "His shirt was easy, but he was wearing jeans and well his boxers came off when I tried to remove just the jeans."

"Does Logan know?" Mac asked.

"He woke up and he kept trying to kiss me. He said I love you. I thought he was dreaming of Lilly after all of the lies. I left him there."

The three girls sat there then Mac looked at the empty bottle next to her and said "We are not going to be sad tonight. Come on, time to get naked."

Checking around the area, still empty they thought, Meg asked if she could still wear her panties and the other two agreed.

Mac hurried back to the blanket; grabbing the corners and dragging it down towards where they were now camped out. Breathless she said to them. "That way we won't have to be naked too far."

Shrieks of it's cold and why are we doing this filled the air as they played in the water. Mac was splashing Veronica telling her that this had been her idea so she had to be the first to dive into the surf.

Veronica pointed out that Mac was the one who had brought the towels and that she had planned it for that night so Mac said "Fine."

Diving in, she swam out a few yards then came back towards the shore now she could wrap up in a warm towel. Meg took a deep breath and dived in. Coming up for air, she was shivering as Mac handed her a towel.

Veronica could swear she heard Lilly's giggle as she taunted Veronica to just get it over with, that the water wasn't that cold before she did just that. Swimming a bit, she looked up at the sky, watching the stars then realizing that the water was too cold she swam back in and took the towel offered by Mac.

*LoVe*

Casey saw Logan and Dick a few yards up ahead and moved towards his friends. His grandmother tired easily now and had gone to her home and went to bed. He had been restless after all that had happened and while thinking about it had realized that Duncan's behavior hadn't been a complete surprise to the others.

Recalling their plans for after the dance, he had changed into casual clothes and come to the beach to ask them what they knew about Duncan's medical problems.

"What are-" Casey wasn't happy to be yanked down and sshed until he looked over the dunes only to once again be pulled down.

"Girls, skinny dipping, shut up." All words that were enough to make Casey obey as he realized exactly what girls were on the beach as the sounds of their words carried over the dunes.

When Veronica had exited the water, the three girls were talking about drying off and how cold the air was, all three boys blood flowing to their lower parts as the mental imagery proved almost too much for them.

Dick felt his eyes rolling back in his head when Mac admitted that she wished she had packed a bra for herself since her dress hadn't made it possible for her to wear one.

Casey hid his need to laugh when he saw Logan wasn't in much better shape. At least he wasn't attracted to either of those girls; Casey thought to himself then admitted that if any of them had ever thrown themselves at him, he wouldn't have rejected any one of them.

*LoVe*

After a few minutes of getting warm, Meg took another drink of her glass of wine and after spitting out sand, dumped it and began to drink straight from the bottle.

"When does your dad expect you home?" Mac asked.

"We are going to be talking tomorrow, or rather later today." She said then with a burst of anger admitted "He wants me to talk to Jake Kane at some point. I refused, but he won't let it go. Dad said that Jake is innocent in this."

How is that possible, he was married wasn't he?" Meg asked because to her wedding vows where unbreakable.

"Jake and my mom were wrong. One thing dad did tell me was that Mom denied that it was possible until last year."

"That sucks." Mac said frankly.

"What are you doing about what Lilly, Logan and Dick did?" Meg asked hesitatingly.

"I spoke to Logan last night down at Dog Beach, It's hard to be mad at him and not be mad at Lilly and I can't be mad at Lilly." She said completely confused. "I think that it is going to be hard to give my trust back to Logan because of my feelings."

"I can get that." Meg said sadly.

"Yet, when I was so angry with Celeste about trying to ban me, the first person I ran to was Logan." Veronica said as she tried to figure out her own head. "I am such a mess."

"What about Duncan, Veronica?" Meg asked.

Veronica shivered and not from the cold. "What we were told about last year was scary but tonight when he attacked Mac, I was frightened."

"His eyes were full of rage." Mac said softly. Seeing the two girls looking at her she said "It was terrifying. I don't want to sleep tonight, I didn't believe the boys when they said it was Duncan who left me to drown, but now I would bet that they are right."

"I had a crush on him, when we were twelve for about two weeks." Veronica suddenly admitted out of the blue. Seeing both girls looking at her, she said "I accidentally hit him with a soccer ball and he was so nice about it. I had a crush on my brother."

"You didn't know, Veronica." Mac said.

"I can't help wondering. If I hadn't developed a crush on Logan that summer, would I still be crushing on Duncan?" She said.

"If it makes you feel better, I had a crush on him too." Meg admitted. "Freshman year before I began dating Cole."

Mac looked at Veronica and said "I had a crush on Weevil for about two weeks."

"Really?" Meg asked laughing in spite of trying not to. "Me too, after I saw him with his nephews one day."

"What about you, Veronica?" Mac asked.

"Just who I already mentioned, except…"

"Who?" Mac probed.

"I met Conner Larkin one day at the Echolls when he was making a movie with Logan's dad but he was mean to Logan."

"How was he mean to Logan?" Meg asked.

He just was." Veronica said then changed the subject. "Who else have you two crushed on?"

Meg said "There was this guy I met at the hospital when candy striping named Leo and Caz."

"Please tell me not Caz. Were you hit on the head?" Mac asked clearly offended.

"I must have been." Meg admitted then asked Mac who she had crushed on.

"I mentioned Weevil, and I am not sure if it was a crush or not but when I tutored Casey last year, I liked hanging out with him, well until the porno stuff."

"That was Casey?" The other two girls laughed in shock.

"I guess I have a thing for perverts because in middle school I had a crush on Dick." Mac said then taking the bottle away from Meg drank the last quarter.

"What happened with Dick?"

"He was a dick." Mac replied scornfully.

"He isn't that bad." Meg loyally said. "He tries and I have to say that he does take care of Cassidy for the most part."

"I know that, but he will sleep with anything that moves." Mac said. "I saw it first hand and we were only in middle school."

*LoVe*

Dick felt sick, but trying to ignore the looks from Casey and Logan he drained one of their whiskey bottles.

"Dick."

"Fuck off, Casey." He said his eyes were cloudy as Dick tried to keep control.

"I would but I think I remember what and where this all happened." Casey whispered.

"I said shut your mouth." Dick replied with a snap to his tone.

"What are you talking about, guys?" Logan asked completely confused and not used to that when it came to his friends.

Dick opened a new bottle of whiskey took a gulp and confessed. "I was already drunk at the party then Madison found me in the cabana changing into my swim trunks."

"You told me that before, what exactly happened?" Logan asked.

Dick couldn't look at Logan as he said "I had been trying to ask Mac out, had done the "ask someone to ask" if she liked me. I had made plans to talk to her but Madison gave me a blow job, similar to what happened to Beaver."

"How did you end up dating Madison?" Logan whispered.

"I had asked Lilly to ask Mac to meet me at the pool, she was changing in the girl's cabana and Madison knew." Dick said his voice tight as he took another drink. "It wasn't Madison's fault, though I should have said no. I just… I never thought it through."

*MaDi*

"We are not going to dwell on bad things. Who wants to play truth or dare?" With a wicked grin, Mac pulled out her knit hat then said "If you get a dare, you have one week to fulfill it or you have to pay a huge tithe and it won't be money plus the last person to fulfill her obligations owes each of the other two a dare of their choice."

There was some gulping then Veronica put her hand in and pulled out the first note and breathed a sigh of relief "Have you ever seen someone having sex?"

Blushing, Veronica said "'Logan's parents on the pool table, I backed out unseen and ran. I was thirteen and thought I would never be able to face the Echolls again."

"Kiss the first person who comes through the door." Meg pulled out a dare after they had all stopped laughing about what Veronica had said. "What door are we talking about?"

"What about making it the lunch room door?" Mac offered.

"It could be a girl." Meg pointed out.

"You don't have to kiss them on the lips." Mac pointed out.

Mac pulled out her tag and breathed a sigh of relief as she read "What is the worst thing about being a girl?"

Instantly Mac said "Periods."

There was agreement from the other two girls then Veronica pulled out "Have you ever had an orgasm? Was it by yourself or with a boy?"

"I was alone." Veronica said blushing.

Meg's said "How far have you gone?"

"Some petting over my clothes." She said. "Cole has let the whole world know."

Mac pulled out "Send someone a text saying. "I know what you did this summer."

"That could be fun." Veronica said with a wicked chuckle even as she reached in and pulled out "Who do your dream about when self satisfying."

Her face was blood red as Veronica whispered "It used to be Logan."

She said that after what happened at the party she hadn't done anything. "I just felt like a freak and couldn't."

Meg reached in and pulled out a dare. "Do the hokey pokey. This doesn't say I have to do it alone, right?"

All three of the girls were in agreement as Meg had an idea and looked forward to putting it in motion.

Mac pulled out the next truth. "Have you ever gone a whole day without underwear?"

"Yes, in school last year after Kimmy and Shelly stole mine." She admitted. "I got them back though by setting them up when they were looking for online soul mates, they ended up with Corney and Butters."

Veronica hadn't gotten a dare yet and the one she did get had her groaning in embarrassment then began to giggle. "I have to call someone and say I know where the Chamber of Secrets is. I am thinking Lamb or Vinnie Van Lowe."

Meg pulled out a truth "How old were you when you first saw a boy naked and who was it?"

"Summer camp and I was fourteen. I never found out his name." She confessed then passed on the hat.

"I was hoping I wouldn't get this one." Mac said then read "Smack, pinch and squeeze the rear of a boy chosen by the others."

"Dick" Meg promptly said. When Mac protested, Meg said "Any other boy would think it was a come on, at least with Dick, he won't take it that way." Meg said knowing that she wasn't being completely honest with Mac.

"I am afraid that is exactly how he would take it." Mac said then looked with pleading eyes at Veronica who saw Meg nodding slightly at her and with an apology in her eyes agreed with the other blonde's suggestion.

"Give a boy a boner without touching him." Veronica read then asked for a do-over.

"No do-overs." Meg said then pulled out her next piece of paper. "Have you ever masturbated? Yes, but I didn't reach my goal."

"Why?" Mac asked.

"I just was too embarrassed and too afraid my parents would hear me and walk in." She said.

Mac reached in and read the "Make out with a teddy bear or another similar inanimate object."

"I don't own any bears, how am I going to do that?" Mac asked.

"What would you do for a Klondike bar?" Veronica read puzzled. "I wonder what that means?"

"Would you kiss a boy for a Klondike bar?" Meg asked.

"Depends." Veronica said. "What boy and how good the ice cream bar looks."

"Luke." Mac said with a smirk.

"That better be the last dessert on earth and Luke the second to last boy." Veronica replied to their amusement. "Not that Luke is that bad, but seriously he is too much of a jock."

"I got a dare." Meg said with a laugh. "I have to call the Grand and ask their concierge for help arranging a date."

Mac read the next one and groaned loudly before reading the list. "I should have read these before printing them and cutting them up."

"What does it say, Mac?" Meg asked.

"If you only had 24 hours to live, who would you want to have sex with, if it would save the world who would you have sex with? Last part first, no one, I have no intention of being a sacrificial virgin." Mac said then admitted. "I honestly have no idea, but I guess someone who knew what they were doing. I wouldn't want my last memory to be of pain."

Veronica's last round was a dare telling her to have a conversation with an inanimate object and it was agreed upon to happen at lunch.

Meg read the next question and said "What is your favorite thing about the opposite sex?"

Meg thought about it then said "The way that they try to understand feminine things but just can't wrap their heads around them."

Mac reached in for the final question but there wasn't one. Being told to just answer Meg's question but about a specific person, Mac said "What person?"

"Dick" Meg promptly said.

"Why are you so fixated on Dick?" Mac protested. "I mean, yeah, he has been so much nicer but he is still Dick. He still drives me insane most of the time."

"What is your favorite thing about Dick?" Veronica asked.

Flushing a bit, Mac hesitated then said "The way he smells. When he helped me that day in the locker room, I noticed how good he smells. Like the ocean, oranges and surf wax."

*MaDi*

Dick and Logan wore silly grins silently fantasizing about their respective girls as they heard them gathering their stuff to head out. When the girls had left, Dick lifted his head and looked over the dunes to double check that they had made it safely to their waiting vehicle.

A few minutes passed as the boys absorbed all that they had heard then Casey asked. "Why was Duncan flipping out not a surprise for you two?"

"Casey, it's not that I don't want to tell you but it is something that has to stay between us." Logan said somberly. When Casey promised to keep silent, the dark haired boy filled him in on Duncan's medical issues.

"Okay." After looking between Dick and Logan he asked the next question on his mind. "I gather that you were worried about his feelings for Veronica because of what is wrong with him."

Dick almost told the other boy the remaining secret but went silent. He liked Casey, the other boy had been a good friend over the last couple of years, but this wasn't his secret to tell.

"Casey could you forget what you think you know. It's not really our secret." Logan said then changing the subject asked if he was going on the surfing trip with them in a few hours.

"Wouldn't miss it." The dark haired boy said then looking at his watch groaned. "Fuck, my parents will already be home. If they catch me slipping into the house at this hour..."

"Crash at my house." Dick offered up. "It's not like there are adults there, dude."

Standing, the three of them headed towards Logan's truck and started towards the Casablancas house when the driver realized he had to go home. "Shit, we should just crash at my place."

Dick insisted on going home, his mind on his bro and his dad not being there.

*MaDi*

Dropping Veronica off, Mac and Meg were standing on the seat, waving to their friend from the open sunroof as they pulled back out of the drive. "Now what?"

Meg leaned forward then said "Hey, Jeeves, do you know where the Casablancas house is?"

Getting informed that yes the driver did, she asked him to take the two of them there.

"Meg, why are we going to see Dick?" Mac asked, her eyes blinking as she tried to stay awake.

Lifting her hand, she showed Mac the keys she had just found in her purse. "I have Cassidy's keys and we have no place else to crash without upsetting the parents."

"We can't just crash there, it isn't right." Mac protested.

"Cassidy won't mind. Dick won't be there he is going on that surf trip with Logan." Meg reminded her.

"Oh." Mac answered then asked "Wait why isn't Cassidy going?"

"I'm not sure, something about it being juniors only." Meg answered.

Entering the property a few minutes later, Mac giggled a bit as Meg unlocked the door. "What about the security system?"

"Dick gave me the code." Meg said then with a sly wink said "Not that he was aware of that."

Carrying the bags that they had had in the trunk, Meg and Mac slipped up the stairs to Cassidy's room and tried to wake the younger boy only to find it impossible.

"He is adorable when he sleeps, like a cute little puppy." Meg said as she watched Cassidy sleeping on his back, his pillow cuddled up in his left arm and no covers on him.

Mac giggled and agreed saying "A nice sweet little spotted beagle."

"Let's go use a couple of the showers." Meg said. "I know where they keep the spare towels."

Finding towels, Meg with a slight smirk directed Mac to the bedroom next door and went to use Cassidy's shower herself. Soon finished, she braided her hair and searching the closet found one of his shirts.

Walking to the bed, she shook Cassidy and whispered "Hey, Cass, do you mind if Mac and I crash?"

She hadn't been expecting an answer so she was shocked when he mumbled "Sure Meg, just don't eat my pop tarts."

When he reached out and grabbed her hand, Meg found herself laying on the California king and holding his hand as he muttered something about jelly bellys and the Easter Bunny. Drifting off to sleep, too tired to wait for Mac, Meg's last thought was that it had been a crazy night.

*LoVe*

Mac stepped out of the shower, wrapped in one towel with the other around her head as she dried off. Standing in front of the huge mirror, she saw the comb and hair dryer still on the marble shelf and couldn't resist saying "It must have been the maid's day off."

Using the dryer and comb to fix her hair, Mac saw the tux shirt hanging on the back of the bathroom door and decided to wear it back to Cassidy's room.

Buttoning up before gathering her clothes, she padded down the hallway towards Cassidy's room and entered the now darkened bedroom. Seeing Meg and Cassidy asleep, she grimaced and went to the hallway to find a bed.

The first room she saw had a messy bed so thinking that it was Dick's room; Mac went on to the next doorway. Peeking in and finding a neat looking room, sighing at the top end computer on the desk in a guest room, she curled up under the covers and was soon fast asleep.

Dick entered the house, double checked the alarm system and hurried up the stairs to his room. Dropping his clothes right next to his bed, he debating taking his socks off but decided it was too much trouble before crawling into his bed and burying his head in the fluffy pillow never noticing the brunette curled up on the other side of said bed.

*LoVe*

Veronica couldn't sleep as she tossed and turned in her bed. Finally deciding that enough was enough; she pulled on her bathrobe and went down the stairs to get some ice cream.

Her mind on all of things she had to talk to her dad about, she set her pint of Chunky Monkey on the counter, spoon stuck in it as she stared off into space.

"You do know that there is a rumor that Deputy Lamb is searching for a petite blond who is wanted connection with Hagen Daz thefts. I hear there is a reward." Keith said as he entered the kitchen and watched his daughter.

Startled, Veronica took a moment to regain her equilibrium then lifted her pint and said "Well it isn't me. This isn't Hagen Daz, its Ben and Jerry. The three of us have frequent rendezvous in this kitchen and I will have you know that I don't share my men."

"Especially if they bring you food." Keith said pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he went to the dish drainer and grabbed a spoon of his own. Opening the freezer, he said "Ah, my good friend, Cherry Garcia."

Sitting across from his child, he looked her over then asked "How are you doing?"

"With what?" She asked wearily. "My horrible homecoming, only saved by my friends? My terrible week where I learned that the man I adore isn't my biological father, though, how Jake Kane, all six foot something of his managed to father a shrimp like me, who knows. Then there is Lilly's death, and who really killed my best friend? Maybe the fact that the boy I am in seriously thinking I was in love with who turned into a jackass isn't really a jackass, just clueless."

"All of the above?" He asked watching as she took a bite of her ice cream to delay answering him. "Veronica?"

"I am not sure. Duncan's fit tonight, I had heard what had happened, but I thought of his as my friend, as Lilly's brother and to know that he is that obsessed when he is my biological half brother, it's creepy." She replied with a heavy sigh and another bite of ice cream.

"Jake has Duncan on his way to a secure lockdown facility, until they can help get his medicines regulated and start to work on his mental issues."

"How can you not hate Jake Kane?" She asked her bewilderment at his familiar tone regarding the man clear. "He cheated, dad. He cheated on his wife and Mom cheated on you. I just... I hate him."

He hated to do this in the middle of the night, but Keith decided to fill his daughter in on everything except the search for Lilly's killer.

"Jake and your mom dated years ago, Veronica. He asked her outright if you were his child, she denied it, claimed I was your father. I never knew they dated, never knew the history until a couple of years ago."

"Dad, was that when Mom started drinking again?" Veronica said sadly.

"Yes. She confessed all of it to me." He replied painfully. "Everything except that you were possibly Jake's child. I confronted Jake, found out that while the affair had ended years ago, Lianne still called and wrote him letters."

"She cheated emotionally dad, even if she wasn't having an actual affair." Veronica said suddenly sick at the words being said out loud. Taking the lid to her ice cream, she closed it then shoved the pint back into the freezer and said "I just don't get why she would hurt us that way."

Keith didn't have any real answers to that mess, he had his own theories but he wouldn't hurt his daughter by telling them to her. "Not long before Lilly died, your mom confessed to Jake. He came to see me, asked me if I had ever run tests. When I said no, he asked me to do so. He provided a DNA sample and so did I. I got some hair from your brush and we found out the truth."

"Why did you wait so long to tell me?" She asked her hurt feelings making her tone harsh.

"Because Jake loved you enough to let you go." He said his voice choking as he said "He said he knew how tight the bond was between us, he didn't want you hurt anymore than I did. We came to an agreement that unless there was a medical reason; we would keep the secrets."

Veronica asked suddenly "Why did Mom come forward after all this time with the truth, dad? What changed? Was it Duncan wanting to date me?"

"No." Keith started to tell his daughter the truth then clammed up as he realized what his innate honesty had been about to admit.

Veronica wasn't his daughter and didn't have his mannerisms for nothing as the truth hit her. "She told the truth because wanted Mr. Kane back didn't she? This was when you were on her about her drinking, isn't it?"

Seeing her eyes looking into his, he began to deny what she suspected then said "Yes it was then but you are wrong about the reason. Jake had come to see me, worried about your mom's drinking and you being in the car with her. He saw her driving you to school one day and knew she was drunk. We confronted her and she confessed her "secret" to Jake, saying she wanted to divorce me and take custody of you."

Veronica choked on the sob coming out of her throat as she realized her cheeks were wet from the tears falling. When her dad came around the counter, pulled her into his arms, she tried to resist because she was mad at him too, but he wouldn't let her.

"Veronica this changes nothing, except you have to worry a little less about how to pay for your college. You are still my daughter. You are still you. Nothing, no test results, no after the fact honesty changes that I am the man who had the privilege of watching you grow up. Who taught you to ride a bike, your love of baseball, who played tooth fairy for you."

Crying onto his shoulder, Veronica said "I know, I love you dad. I don't want Jake to be in my life. I hate him."

When she was all cried out, Keith lifted her head then said "Veronica, eventually you will learn all sides in this. I am not without guilt. I knew I was a rebound for your mother but I just didn't care. When she found out she was pregnant, I never questioned the timing of it, I just wanted to be a good father. However, if Jake had been told he would have moved heaven and earth to be in your life. I may have wanted to shoot the prick at times but I do get that he wasn't guilty of anything. He had no idea your Mom was engaged at the time, none at all."

Out of nowhere, Veronica couldn't resist confessing. "I hate baseball, dad."

With a twitch to his lips, Keith said "Stop lying, you know you love baseball, Veronica."

Lifting her head, she said "No, I just faked it because you loved it dad. Golf on television, that weird cricket stuff sucks but the rugby isn't half bad."

Hugging her, knowing that she was done with the emotional upheaval for the night, Keith said "Kiddo, I don't know who you are trying to kid, but it won't work. I know you really love baseball AND my stories about how cool I was in the eighties."

Returning her dad's hug, Veronica whispered "I love you."

"I love you too. Now head up to bed." Watching as Veronica left the kitchen and went up the stairs, Keith meandered towards his study and the picture he had on his desk of him with his little girl.

Settling into his chair, he couldn't help being grateful for the incredible gift Lianne's lies had given him. A daughter whose unconditional love had long warmed his heart.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Logan woke up to someone flicking his ear. "Casey if you don't leave me along, I am going to send Mrs. Moore flowers in your name and tell her you are secretly in love with her."

"Logan, time to wakey wakey!" He heard the annoying whiney voice of his step sister and groaned. "Daddy dearest said for you to get up so that you can go on this man trip, that there are no girls allowed."

"Get out of my room Trina or I will throw your ass in the pool." He threatened as he pulled the pillow over his head. When she flicked his ear again, Logan rolled over, grabbed her hand and started to snarl at her when his eyes opened and he saw the fading bruises on her face, neck and arms. "Damn it, Trina, who hurt you?"

Standing on his bed, Logan was furious when he saw her back away. "Crap, sorry but who did this?"

"Logan, its fine." Lynn said as she entered the bedroom. "Trina, I told you I would wake Logan up. Why don't you head up to bed, we will be meeting with my agent for breakfast at eight."

"Wait!" Logan called out trying to stop Trina from leaving, then turning to his mom he asked "Who hurt her?"

"Sit down, Logan. Your jumping around like this at five in the morning is way too early." She said reaching to stop her son from following his sister. While they didn't get along, she knew that Logan would be upset at what had happened to Trina, it's why she hadn't want her stepdaughter to wake up her brother.

"Mom!"

"It has been handled Logan." She said with a reassuring smile. "Trina is going to London tomorrow, for a movie. So let her get her beauty rest and you get ready to join your father, unless you intend to go surfing in your boxers?"

Flushing as he looked down and then at his mom, he dived for the covers and was soon wrapped up in the sheet while she said that Casey had woke up an hour ago and had gone home to get his equipment.

Lynn left the room and Logan fell back against his pillow knowing he would get answers from his dad later about Trina. Starting to drift off, he heard his cell phone ringing and lifted it off the stand expecting to see Dick's name but instead seeing Troy.

"Frick, frick, fuck." Was his replied as he considered ignoring the jerk. Instead of doing what he wanted, Logan hit send and snarled "What?"

"When are you picking me up?" Troy asked.

"Sorry with everything going on with Duncan, the boys only trip is cancelled, my dad is taking Dick, Casey and I instead." Logan smoothly lied.

"Thanks for the warning. You couldn't have let me know last night?" Troy's angry voice asked.

"Sorry I was a bit busy dealing with Duncan going nuts, my dad's car being smashed and my friends manhandled." Logan said in a snarky tone. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to get up to shower."

*MaDi*

At the Casablancas mansion, Cassidy stretched and froze when he felt the soft skin of what had to be a girl. Removing his hand, he opened his eyes and looked at the long blond hair and frowned as he tried to figure out why Meg was asleep next to him.

Rubbing his eyes to clear away the sleepy bugs, he yawned then softly shook her awake. "Meg, what going on here?"

The blonde's head came up, looked at Cassidy then at the digital clock behind him and groaned. "Cassidy, it's barely five in the morning."

"I have to get ready to go surfing with Logan and Dick." He said yawning yet again. "Why are you here?"

"Don't you remember my waking you up and asking if Mac and I could crash?" She asked. "I thought you weren't going with them?"

"Wasn't going to, but Logan's dad sort of suggested I come." Cassidy replied then said "You woke me up?"

"At about two this morning. Mac is crashing in your guest room. We couldn't go to my house and Mac didn't want us to go to hers drunk." She said with a yawn herself then heard his suggesting she head back to sleep.

Cassidy saw she had obeyed his suggestion before he had even walked to his desk. With a smirk he wrote down what she needed to know to lock the house up and went to shower.

Dressed in dark green board shorts with a wide white stripe down the side and a form fitting white T-shirt, he slid his feet into his sandals and groaned when he realized he didn't hear movement in Dick's room.

Padding down the hallway, he stood in the doorway of his brother's room planning on waking him up when he heard the sound of someone entering the front door.

Turning to the staircase, he walked down the stairs and saw Logan leaning against the back of the sofa while his father was talking on his cell phone.

"I was planning on walking you up." Logan said then added "Dad is arranging for breakfast at the Grand. Where is Dick?"

Logan moved towards the stairs planning on annoying his best friend.

"Still asleep, but be quiet, Mac is crashing in a guest room and Meg is asleep in my bed." Cassidy saw Logan stop his forward and turn to stare at him, in shock. "What?"

"The very virginal Meg Manning is asleep in your bed?" Logan asked.

"Yes, and its Meg, Logan." He said rolling his eyes. "Do you really think that she just decided out of the blue that I am prince charming and that she wanted me?"

"Okay, okay." Logan said to pacify his friend. "So, I guess I will quietly wake Dick up."

Rolling his eyes Cassidy continued on to the garage to get the boards, not wanting to delay their trip.

*LoVe*

Dick woke up, his normal morning hard on raging as his brain gave him a slide show of his late night dream. Realizing that someone was sleeping on the other side of his bed, he felt his body stiffen as hard as his dick when he realized that it was Mac.

"Fuck me!" He whispered in shock at one of his fantasies coming true.

"Oh, I would say you are fucked all right." Was the sardonic comment from his best friend.

Flipping quickly around, Dick glared at Logan who was grinning widely from the doorway where he was leaning against the door jam. "Care to explain why Mac is fast asleep in your bed, Richard?"

Dick's eyes darted to the other side of his bed, then said "You see her too?"

"Uh, yeah." Logan's tone made it clear that that was a stupid question. "So, since you are asking it, do you regularly dream of waking up with said brunette?"

Hearing Mac moaning to someone named Ryan to get out of her room, Dick glared at Logan again then slid out of his bed and walked towards the doorway. When Logan backed up, Dick flipped him off then said "Get out of here."

Dick then closed the door in his face and turned to lean against the large oak door before turning the knob to lock it. Crossing his arms, Dick stared at a sleeping Mac curled up now in the center of his bed with one of his pillows covering her head.

Hearing someone knocking, Dick ignored what was more than likely Logan and whispered "Is this a dream?"

When the body in the bed kicked away the blankets clearly disturbed by the sound of the knocking, Dick's heart sped up a bit when he saw she was wearing his tuxedo shirt. "Okay, so what did I do right that this is my present?"

"Ryan, leave me alone. Do not make me get out of this bed." Mac snarled and when the noise stopped, she loudly sighed then Dick watched as she went back to sleep.

Unlocking and opening the door, Dick slipped outside and pulled it closed never noticing he was only wearing his boxer briefs.

"Glad you could join me, but don't you think you should change into clothes?" Logan asked sarcastically as he looked at his best friend wearing fabric with Hershey kisses all over his ass.

Dick looked at Logan and ordered "Go back downstairs."

"Fine, but you had better be downstairs in five minutes or I will return." Logan warned before hurrying down the steps and out to where his father and Beaver were tying down the boards. "Hey, Beav, do you know why Mac is sleeping in Dick's bed?"

"No fucking way." Beaver said, letting go of the board that almost fell on him. Catching it awkwardly, he brought it down to the cement then muttering an apology to Logan's dad he rushed towards the house. "I am going to kill my brother."

Reaching out to stop Beaver, Logan said "I think he was as surprised as I was to find her there, so you can't kill him until we get answers."

Aaron who was at the back of the SUV came around and inquired "What is going on?"

"Either Dick has mastered a Jedi mind trick or somehow Mac lost her mind." Logan reported. "She slept with Dick."

"She didn't fucking sleep with me. She slept in my bed and that it a totally different situation." Dick contended as he stomped out the door and pulled it shut behind him. Throwing his bag into the back seat, he looked at Logan then said "I ran into Meg when I came down the stairs. She was going to use a guest room, and somehow ended up in mine."

"Can we get going now?" Aaron asked he looked at the three teenage boys. "Dick, does Meg know that you are leaving?"

"I wrote her a note already." Cassidy reported as he went back to helping tie down the boards. "Where is Casey?"

"He is meeting us at the Grand." Logan replied. "I told Troy that he was uninvited."

"I thought we wanted him to go?" Dick asked cautiously.

"He is still going; he called me back when we were on our way here. Luke, Seth and Troy are going down together." Logan replied as they all settled into the vehicle.

"Logan, remember the speed limit isn't a suggestion, it's the law." Aaron cautioned as they pulled out of the driveway.

*MaDi*

Madison watched the sun rise and stood on shaky legs as she went inside her house and up to bed. Putting her phone on its charger, she washed her face and went to bed knowing she wouldn't get any restful sleep.

Her head landed on her pillow and her eyes closed but she could still see what had happened earlier that night. Duncan at his house, Duncan at dinner, Duncan in the limo and the early part of the evening, then Duncan after the announcement of Meg and Casey as Prince and Princess.

Duncan flipping out, Duncan attacking Aaron Echoll's car, Duncan as the police hauled him off. Duncan on the news then the calls from the reporters asking about her date.

Madison didn't know how she could go back to school on Tuesday, knowing everyone would be laughing at her. Knowing that her status as reigning queen of the 09ers would have to be regained.

Hearing her dad leaving for his Sunday morning golf game, Madison felt the tears falling down her cheeks as she really, really wished she had not gone to Homecoming with Duncan Kane.

*LoVe*

Veronica could smell bacon and stretching her hand out, lifted her clock so that she could read the time. Moaning when she noticed it was barely six thirty; she sniffed the air then got up and went down the stairs.

"Dad, do pancakes come with that bacon?" She asked as she hurried into the kitchen. When she was offered a plate with a fork, she said "Yum, pancakes."

At the table, she reached for the syrup at the same time as she took a sip of the coffee cup in front of her. "What's up with the early breakfast?"

Keith finished the last of the pancakes then joined his daughter at the table. "Can't a dad just want to surprise his daughter by giving her most favorite thing in the world?"

With a wide smile, Veronica pretended to jump up and down and asked "You bought me a pony and cooked it up and pancakes for me."

Then a moment later, she said "Scratch that, it sounded better in my head then when it came out of my mouth because I really don't want to eat a pony."

Keith sipped his coffee then said "I thought we would head down to San Diego and spend the day at the zoo."

"We haven't done that since I was ten." Veronica protested.

"I know." He replied then asked if she was against the idea.

"No." She slowly replied before finishing her food and going to shower and get dressed. On the trip towards San Diego, Keith asked several probing questions and was not amused to realize that one trait his daughter shared with him was her ability to keep things to herself.

A few miles away from the zoo, she suddenly pulled over into a parking lot, to his surprise looked at him then asked "How do you not hate her? How can you forgive her?"

Keith sat there trying to find the words that would help Veronica without making her aware of how angry he was with Lianne. Looking at his teenage daughter, he faced that he couldn't hide his anger without hurting her worse.

"I don't hate her, I don't love her anymore, but I don't hate her. Forgiving her is another story. Veronica, you were the greatest gift your mother could ever give me, biologically your father or not. It's why I get how Jake Kane feels, he lost that time with you, time your mother stole from him in a fit of anger because he didn't divorce his wife and marry her."

He watched as her hands turned white from the tension of how tightly she gripped the steering wheel at Jake's name and when her next question came, winced "I hate her, I can't forgive her for lying to you. I just can't dad."

"Veronica for your own sake, I hope that someday you can forgive your mother. Holding that anger, that pain inside, it eats at your soul. You my darling daughter deserve better than that."

Unbuckling his seat belt, he reached over to hug her then with his head on top of hers asked if she blamed him. Veronica pulled back so that she could look him in the eyes, "Why would I hate you?"

"Your mother fled town because of me." He said then silently added and because she was the prime unknown suspect in your half sister's murder.

"Dad, mom checked out months before she fled town. I can look back and see that things changed midway through my freshman year." She painfully replied. "You tried to hide so much of the mess that year. I let you both do that by spending all my time with my friends, trying to pretend that nothing was wrong too. It's why Lilly's death hit me so hard; it's why Logan's sudden abandonment was as rough to deal with."

Keith looked at Veronica then asked "How are you dealing with all of that?"

"With Logan's part?" she asked. Seeing Keith's nod, she said "I want to be mad, want to yell at Dick, at Logan, at everyone but I would have to be mad at Lilly, have to go to the cemetery and yell at her, but I can't be mad at Lilly, not when she is dead."

Veronica's voice was wobbling and her unshed tears made it clear that she hated not being free to have the option of yelling at her best friend.

"Veronica are you mad that Lilly didn't tell you that she was your sister? What about that she kept Duncan's illness hidden?" Keith asked.

"Yes and no." She replied as she looked around the parking lot of the busy supermarket they were sitting in. "I wish she had told me, I would have wanted to know about Lilly being my sister, but I hate that Jake is my dad. Crazy, huh?"

Keith sat there for a moment thinking on all of the ways that things might have been different if only Lilly had confronted the adults but he also knew that it was more than likely that Lilly died because of that secret. "No, it's not crazy. Lilly and you were more like sisters than friends from the moment the two of you met. It drove your mother crazy because Lilly was Celeste's child and she had to be nice to her."

"Celeste was barely polite to me." Veronica said ruefully as she thought back to the various times the woman had been borderline rude to her. Veronica wanted to have sympathy for the woman now that she knew the truth but at the same time, Veronica felt like Celeste hated her for something she had no control over.

Deciding to push the swirling mess of emotions out of the forefront of her brain, Veronica turned the key to start her car and pulled off the lot heading towards the zoo.

*MaDi*

Mac woke up in a strange bed, frowning she looked around as she began to recall the night before. Stretching a bit, she rolled over onto her stomach and buried her head into the pillow she landed on.

Feeling relaxed, she sensed something was off but didn't get what it was until she heard Meg's voice from the other side of the room. "Care to explain, Mac?"

"H'um?" The dark haired girl moaned then buried her head back into the pillow, sniffing the scent she found there.

"I just checked, there are three family bedrooms and four guest rooms, so how did you end up sleeping in Dick's bedroom?" The blond said teasing her friend as she walked into the room and sat down on the chair at the computer desk.

"This isn't Dick's room, his is across the hall." Mac replied still half asleep.

"Nope." Meg said with an amused smirk as she stood, walked over to the closet and opened the door. "See, his closet, that over there, is his computer and my guess is that that dark green blob by the door is his school bag."

Mac sat straight up, looked around then relaxed. "It can't be his room, Meg. It's too neat and Cassidy said that they told the new housekeeper that they would take care of their own rooms. Remember?"

"So because this room is fairly neat you think it can't be Dick's?" Meg asked in disbelief.

"That and there is a messy room with an unmade bed across the hall. His tuxedo shirt was in the shared bath." Mac said as she tossed back the covers and stood.

"You mean the shirt you are wearing?" Meg asked now standing near the desk again. Lifting the dark material hanging off the back of the chair she said "The shirt that matches this jacket?"

Mac stumbled to the closet, then back to the desk and moaned in embarrassment. "Oh my god, if Dick finds out I slept in his bed..."

"Too late to hide it. Logan came to wake him up and there the two of you were curled up all snug as a bug in bed together." Meg teased. "He had a hard time getting Dick to head out on their surfing trip."

"NO!" Mac moaned as she rushed to the bathroom and to her bag. Reaching for her clothes, grimacing when she realized they were still damp, she was now flushed cherry red. "This isn't happening... If I pretend it didn't happen, it just didn't happen."

"Oh, but it did happen, Mac." Meg said following her around like her own demented little Jiminy Cricket. "You spent the night sleeping with Dick Casablancas."

"I am going to have to transfer to Pan, better yet, kill me now." Mac moaned as she realized that she had just given the blond boy all he needed to make her life a living hell. "I can hear the comments already. What was I thinking? Oh my god, the truth is, I wasn't thinking. I listened to you!"

Meg stopped Mac, then pointed at a pile of neatly folded clothes then suggested she read the note on top of them.

Mac was still muttering darkly about how this was all Meg's fault as she picked up the note with the neatly written words on it.

"Mac; I saw your clothes would still be wet from your trip to the beach. These belong to stepmom #2; she won't be back to get them so go ahead and keep them. Unless of course you want to borrow some of my clothes, which I have to admit, I like the idea of. My clothes, that were next to my skin, now on yours. If you decide to go that way, my boxers are in the top drawer of the right side of my dresser and shirts are in the closet. -Dick."

Mac's reciting of the words had Meg grinning and that grin got even larger when Mac added "PS, Mackie, An even better idea, you still being in my bed when I return tomorrow morning."

Crumbling the note, Mac looked at the clothes then grimacing decided to wear the white shorts and pale grey polo shirt. Finding a pair of Keds and a white pair of lacy socks next to them, she checked the size and tied them up all of the while plotting getting away with Meg's murder.

Meg who had moved to the bedroom, was waiting as Mac returned. "So, do you even remember Dick joining you in bed last night?"

"No."

"If it makes you feel any better, I slept with Cassidy." Meg offered up with a slight grin. "Just slept, nothing more but well he spent the night holding my hand and dreaming of jelly beans."

In spite of the turmoil her emotions were in, Mac stopped and looked at Meg annoyed with her blond friend. "You slept with a sweet little harmless beagle; I spent the night with a rottweiler or a mastiff."

"Now that isn't fair." Meg said then looking at Mac replied "Dick is more like a large English sheep dog. Hairy, convinced he is a lap dog and willing to follow his owner around without complaint."

"True." Mac said thoughtfully then with an impish grin asked "How long do you think it took Logan to train him?"

Laughter echoed through the hallways as the two girls walked down the stairs then Meg led the way into the kitchen and said "See to me, Dick isn't housebroken just yet. More like waiting for the perfect girl to bring him to heel."

"It will take a brave woman." Mac murmured then saw the breakfast waiting for her. "Meg did you do this?"

"When Cassidy decided he was going on trip, I decided that we would take advantage of this incredible kitchen." Meg then handed Mac the note that the boys had left. "He also left us the keys to the soon to be ex-Mrs. C's car. With instructions to keep it until school on Tuesday."

Eating breakfast, feeling like a condemned prisoner eating her last meal, Mac moaned in enjoyment as she finished her last bite of french toast. "You are an incredible cook. I think we should all go to college together. You can cook, Veronica can bake and I will load the dishwasher."

"Let's go, I need you to drop me off before church." Meg declared as they gathered their stuff and locked up the house before going to the garage.

Meg hit the panic button to figure out which car was the one they were taking and saw how excited Mac was when she realized it was a Mini Cooper. "Okay, you drive. Cassidy said that this was the car Sadie had when she married Dick Sr, but that she left it behind."

*LoVe*

Jake hung up the phone, then looked around the hotel suite. Tomorrow the home he had lived in for the last sixteen years would be empty of his soon to be ex-wife and he could return if he wanted. He just didn't know if that was what he was going to do.

He had never cared for the house, had let Celeste pick the oversized contemporary house. He just didn't want to let it go, it was in that house that his children had lived, then later by the pool where Lilly had died. It was at that house, in the kitchen where he had met his youngest daughter for the first time.

Lilly and Veronica had been seated on the bar stools, munching carrots and discussing the merits of cucumber ranch over basic ranch dressing. He had stood silently watching them, amused at how his daughter had found a friend similar enough to herself but clearly with her own strong opinions.

A young girl whose name had had him reliving old memories and whose sweet smile and little head tilt had had him giving in to Lilly and her request to drive them to the mall so that they could buy some teenage must haves.

A trip that they had promised would take only minutes had ended up being an all day affair. He had even ducked out of a meeting with his board of directors that day, spending it instead following around two teenagers and carrying their bags.

A day that had ended up with his dropping Veronica off and driving home to a huge fight with his wife. A fight that had been the first of many regarding Celeste's unreasonable dislike of Veronica. A fight that had had him realizing that Lilly felt unloved by her parents. After that, Jake had gone out of his way to make up for his neglect with his children, especially with his daughter.

Now knowing that Lilly had learned the truth about Veronica, that she had been excited by the idea of Veronica being her sister had him regretting letting Celeste convince him that lying had been the better option.

Jake knew that Keith was sure it was Lianne who killed Lilly, but he was equally convinced that it was Celeste. She had had the same motives as Lianne and Jake knew that Celeste didn't feel the same love for her daughter that she did for their son.

Hearing his phone ringing, he listened as Clarence told him that Duncan had been checked in. "He attacked the guard when he realized this wasn't a normal school, Jake."

"Thank you, Clarence." Jake replied then listened as his head of security explained about the list of things that were coming up for Duncan. "A complete psychical? Why?"

"They want to double check what Duncan's doctor reported. It's standard practice to make sure that he is really sick and that his parents aren't just trying to dump a problem child on them. Its standard practice."

Jake agreed to the tests, then had his own health records shipped like requested but admitted that he doubted Celeste would agree to give up hers.

Hearing angry knocking at the door, he quickly thanked Clarence then went to open the door. Stepping back to let in his furious wife, he said "By all means please come in."

Celeste snarled at him then said "There is no way in hell I am giving you full custody of Duncan. He is MY son. Mine. If I have to, I will change my mind and fight this divorce."

"Celeste, you signed off last night, remember." He said smugly then with a quick duck, watched as some hotel knickknack was smashed against the wall. "As for Duncan when he gets well, we can share custody but Judge Brown agreed that your secretive attempt to send him to Maine is proof that you shouldn't have control over OUR son."

"Don't mess with me, Jake. You won't like the consequences." Celeste warned then said "Your attorney gave me the settlement paperwork this morning. I though we were coming to an understanding, but if you try to interfere in regards to Duncan, our deal is off."

"Celeste, you can visit with Duncan all you want, but you will NOT be taking him out of school. The judge signed off on his treatment. If you try to interfere they will bring him back here and he will spend time in a jail cell until he goes on trial. Is that what you want?"

What trial?" She snapped. "Clearly Duncan isn't well. There is no way that they can hold him responsible for his actions."

"Celeste, yes they can. Echolls agreed to his being gone, if he was at a treatment facility and the school did the same. I spoke to the Mackenzies this morning..."

"I checked into them, they are of no consequence." She said dismissing the parents of the young girl Duncan had attacked. "He is a salesman and she is just a homemaker, never had a job."

"Neither have you." He said condescendingly. "Celeste, money or not, Duncan hurt their daughter and there is video tape of it. Lots and lots of evidence. Whatever you are thinking, forget it. It won't be forgotten."

Celeste left as quickly as she had entered and Jake went to call Duncan's new school. An hour later, he hung up and went to have a late brunch, curious as to how Veronica and Keith's trip to the San Diego zoo was going.

*LoVe*

Meg talked to her parents as they ate lunch with their fellow church attendees. Her sister Lizzy was talking to a fellow classmate all about Duncan's fit, clearly enjoying the notoriety of having been at the event. "Mom, are you sure?"

"Yes, your father and I talked about it. Only less than three days a week and only at a place we approve of." She warned Meg.

Meg was excited; her parents had finally loosened the tight strings that kept her from doing a lot of normal teenage stuff. Looking at her mom, she asked "Why now?"

"Last night and I saw the video on the news this morning Meg. Your dad is still a bit worried about you being around those boys but he agrees that you need to be allowed to decide your own life."

"Mom, sometimes its not the boys who are seen as bad that you have to worry about." She said cautiously as she watched Lucky the school janitor talking to her dad, pretending to be a good guy when he was her classmates drug contact.

"Its the ones who lie to your face and pretend to be that I worry about. Logan and Dick used their reputation to protect those they cared about from Duncan. To me that means more than someone who is two faced."

"Eddie Haskell?" Meg's mom said referencing the boy from Leave it to Beaver.

"Who? Do I know him?" Meg asked.

Mrs. Manning explained then watched as Meg went to help clear the tables, happy at how well her daughter was turning out.

*MaDi*

Mac was in her bedroom on the computer when she finally had a breakthrough as to how to get her new car. Hearing her dad asking her mom about the Cooper, Mac closed down her computer and went to the living room. "It's Mrs. Casablancas, the boys lent it to me this morning."

"Why were you at their house this morning?" Mr. Mackenzie asked. "I thought you were at Veronica's."

"We were but Meg had to return Cassidy's keys before he went surfing with the Echolls. Veronica went to the zoo and we had to do some running around, Dick and Cassidy left us the keys to it." Mac said.

"I am not so sure I like the idea of you driving someone else's car, Cindy." Her dad said a slight frown growing on his normally placid face.

"Meg was going to take it, but her parents are having company after church so I agreed to bring it here since my car is at the shop." Mac said. "I promised to let Veronica's dog outside and this way I have transportation to do that."

"Fine, but I am not really comfortable with you driving other people's cars." Sam walked towards the kitchen to talk to his wife and Mac followed getting the bone her mom offered to send to Backup.

Leaving, she hurried to the Mars residence and gathering the dog drove to Dog Beach. Seeing Wallace with his brother, she waved to him but was disappointed when he didn't come over.

A bit later as they were getting ready to head back, Wallace did stop over and sit down next to Mac. "Sorry, I had to wait until Mom took Darryl. She is up in arms about what happened last night. In her mind, its all because I am friends with Veronica that this stuff happened. You won't believe the rumors she has heard about Veronica and she refuses to see that they were all lies."

Mac said she understood even if she really didn't but then Wallace told her the rest. "I am banned from hanging out at the Mars house, am to be home straight from school at least three nights for the next two weeks. I feel like I am grounded without having done anything wrong."

When Mac had dropped off Backup, she drove over to see Meg who was frowning when she heard about Wallace. "Really, she blames Veronica for what happened?"

"Mrs. Fennel works at Kane Industries. Wallace said that she heard rumors before from Mrs. Kane and she hates Veronica, we both know that." Mac replied as she looked around Meg's bedroom. "So, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Mom and Dad gave me permission to get a job." Meg said with a wide grin. "No more babysitting for me. So tomorrow I am going to look around Neptune and find a job."

"I wish my parents would let me get a job. Thankfully all my computer work gives me enough money to buy what I want, but I can only work during the summer." Mac admitted.

*LoVe*

After a day of surfing, the three boys were waterlogged as they ran into their friends in Tijuana. "Let's get our party on dude!" Luke shouted as he greeted them.

"Can't." Logan replied.

"Why not?" Sean asked with a smirk. "Daddy wouldn't approve?"

"No, he wouldn't." Logan snapped back at the annoying ass. "And we only have tomorrow morning left to surf, we have to head back to Neptune early tomorrow afternoon."

"Sorry about that man, I forgot when I made the appointment with that lawyer." Dick said as he stuck his board in the sand and waited for Beaver to join them. "Guys what's up?"

"Not much, Luke and Sean took off on me. I ended up surfing with some kids from LaJolla." Troy replied as he decided to poke some more at Logan. "So daddy came down with you. Man, since when did you become this kiss ass?"

Standing, Logan looked at Troy then said "We have to go change; we are attending the party tonight on Puff Daddy's boat. So this kiss ass is going to find a pretty hot chick to flirt with, what exactly are your plans. Finding a pro and paying for it?"

Walking away with his two friends, Logan muttered under his breath about what an ass Troy was when Dick said. "Luke and Sean, since when are they pals?"

*LoVe*

Veronica stumbled into her bedroom and onto her bed, exhausted from being dragged all over the zoo that day. Her dad had spent the day clearing the air, but Veronica still had lots of questions that she knew were best to be avoided for now.

Like what did her dad know about the investigation into Lilly's death? What was he still keeping from her that had him meeting with the man who had gotten him fired and why was he being so nice to said man.

Falling into a dreamless sleep, Veronica spent the night tossing and turning, waking up every few minutes as she realized she was missing something. Something that was nagging at her, something important.

Awake at dawn, two days in a row, Veronica scowled in the mirror as she recalled she didn't have school that day. Going to her car, driving to the beach with her dog, she sat there, tossing a stick for Backup to chase, her mind struggling to figure out what the heck she was missing.

"Veronica!" Turning to greet her friends, Veronica asked. "Why are you up this early on a non-school day?"

"Couldn't sleep, I have to talk to you." Mac said sinking gracefully onto the sand next to Veronica. "Its been a crazy weekend, I did something foolish."

"Really?" Veronica inquired curious as to what had Mac looking as if she swallowed a lemon. "What is going on?"

"I slept with Dick." She bluntly announced. Watching as Veronica staggered a bit; she said "It is all Meg's fault. She had the brilliant idea of going to Cassidy's house and I didn't know which bedroom was which and I slept with Dick."

"OH MY GOD." Veronica was stunned; Mac had slept with Dick, Dick Casablancas of all people. "How did this happen? I mean, I know how it happened but why?"

"I didn't know that it was his bedroom. I woke up yesterday morning and didn't even realize that he had been in bed with me." She said then flushing added "At least he was a gentleman, or at least I think he was."

"Okay, go back to the beginning. What do you mean by slept with Dick because I am confused." Veronica stated.

"Slept, not sex." Mac replied as she looked at Veronica. "I just know that he is going to make this public. You know how he is; I am going to die of embarrassment."

"Maybe not." Veronica responded trying to be hopeful. Dick clearly did like Mac, but it was possible that he wouldn't think before he spoke.

After taking Backup home so that they could go see Meg, Veronica saw Mac pulling up into her driveway in a nice Mini Cooper. "Whose car is that?"

"Sadie Casablancas. Dick lent it to Meg and I since it was just sitting in the garage." Mac flushed when she realized she was offering up excuses as to why she had the dark green compact. "Anyhow, are you ready to go?"

"Yes, dad had a call about a bail jumper who took off to Las Vegas. I think that he loves those calls a bit too much." Veronica chuckled as she recalled how fast he had taken the job.

*LoVe*

Dick looked at the attorney then handed over what his mom had sent to him and explained what had happened at school on Friday. "I want you make sure my mom can't keep trying to steal my inheritance."

Cliff took a look at the files, then back up at the blond teenager and saw that underneath the anger was hurt at his mom's behavior. "You said she got your brother to sign away his share of this?"

"Yes. I spoke to my dad's assistant, he sent a message to my dad but he is in Kuwait for the next five months supervising his hotel there." Dick informed the attorney. "We are driving up tomorrow for the funeral then meeting with my grandfather's advisers. Dad''s assistant gave me the paperwork declaring me an adult since I turn eighteen this year."

"I am free all day tomorrow, is there anything else I can help you with." Cliff asked. When Dick replied no, Cliff closed his briefcase then after hesitating solicited "Why didn't you go with a more notable firm."

Shrugging, Dick claimed "Sheriff Mars trusts you, that is good enough for me. He is a good judge of character."

Cliff thanked the boy, said he would meet him at the law office in LA the next day before heading back to his office. Making a few calls, he was not surprised at the large file he was told that the state had on Casablacas family legal cases.

Reading how the parents had fought each other over every single dime, every single asset but had both fought to not end up raising their own children, had Cliff feeling grateful he wasn't rich. The emmancipation papers had Cliff curious considering that the older man had barely taken care of his own children, that little legal manuever had him curious as to what he could find if he dug a little deeper.

With a sigh, he looked at his calendar to see what he could put off for a few days, had him calling Veronica and not even pretending to be leaving a message for Keith.

"It pays well. I need everything you can find on a Kendall Shefflet, current Laker girl. Just distance photos and a background check, Veronica." He cautioned.

Cliff went to his closet and pulled out his LA suits and packed it in his garment bag before making plans to return to the city he left ten year ago.

*MaDi*

Logan and his parents had had several long talks on Monday. Leaning what Trina had done had felt like a betrayal but he found it hard to be angry when he heard what Duncan had done to her.

"Did he rape her?" He asked.

"On that, Trina was honest. No, he didn't rape her. She agreed to have sex with him she just had no idea what she was getting into." Lynn was not going to lie to make Trina look good. "She is gone, in London for the next six months."

"I have to leave for the location shoot tomorrow." Aaron stated. "Your mom is going to stay here."

"I will be fine." Logan expressed. "I don't need a babysitter."

"I'm your mother not a babysitter, Logan." Lynn reminded him then said "I am staying not only because we want one of us here for you, but also because I am going to be preparing for a television pilot."

"Okay, I am going to see Veronica." He declared as he pulled his car keys out of his shorts pocket. "I want to make sure she is feeling okay after Homecoming."

Watching as he left, Aaron said to his wife "Do you think he bought it?"

"No." She said honestly. "Our son knows that I am staying home to hover over him." Kissing Aaron she reminded him that he was going to be gone for almost five weeks.

*LoVe*

Luke was nervous as he approached Veronica, he was not sure how to do it, but he needed her help or he was a dead man. "Veronica, I need to hire you."

Seeing the baseball player waiting for her by the entrance to her dad's office, she said "Come upstairs."

Unlocking the doors and escorting him in, she said "What do you need?"

"I went to Mexico with Sean and Troy in Troy's dad's new Beemer. It was stolen when we stopped to eat at this little diner this side of the border. I need you to get the car back and fast." He said sweating from his fear.

"Why? I could understand if Troy was so desperate to get his dad's car back, but you, Luke? What did you have in the car that is worth hiring me?" She asked.

"I can't tell you." He answered.

"I can't work for you then." She retorted as she went to open the door. "Goodbye, Luke."

"If you don't help me, I am dead." He called out. "Hank is going to kill me."

"Then tell me what is really going on." She responded.

"I made a steroid run for this guy I know at the gym; I need to bulk up so that I can get a baseball scholarship."

"You will also get shrunken testicles, acne and roid rage, yeah that is a good tradeoff." She snarked. "Luke, you are out of luck. I will help you find a way to get the money to return it to your dealer but I won't help you locate drugs."

"I am dead, do you get that, he is going to kill me. Hank only let me do the run because he needs the drugs immediately." He whined. "Besides, where am I going to get four thousand dollars?"

"I suggest you figure it out, if you get the money, I will deal with your dealer. Get him off your back. Now, clearly someone knew about the drugs, so did you tell Sean or Troy?" She asked.

"No, I don't trust Sean not to help himself and Troy was busy dealing with his own dealer." He confessed. "He likes to get party drugs while down in Mexico."

Veronica was relieved when Luke went home to try and find a way to get the money as she debated letting that idiot Luke sink into his own muck.

Making a few calls, she was able to find out the make and model of Troy's fathers car, then called Mac. The other girl promised to look at the security cameras then get back to her.

"Where have you been?" Turning to see the disembodied head of Logan hanging around the office door, she waved him inside and offered him a soda.

"Here, there, everywhere. Mainly doing some work for my dad." She replied as she joined him on the sofa. "So how was the surfing trip? I gather it was pretty exciting for Troy and the others. Troy's dad's car got stolen."

"I heard. Sean seemed pretty calm about it but he said that Troy and Luke almost came to blows in the parking lot. Ours was fine, went to a party on the yacht, Dick tossed Casey overboard and when we got back I learned that Trina sold her soul to Duncan."

"Wait, what was that last bit?" She asked as she leaned back against the aging plaid sofa and hide her assessing look because Logan looked very, very good. Tanned and relaxed wearing a pair of burnt orange board shorts and water sandals with a white T-shirt with a the same burnt orange logo as on his shorts.

"Trina was helping Duncan keep me away from you but he went nuts and beat her up. She looked pretty bad." He said his eyes on his clenched hands as he recalled how black and blue Trina had been.

"My dad has been working a case at the Grand. Duncan's name came up. Was that where it all happened?" She asked looking at Logan, unsure that she really wanted answers.

"I think so. The parents aren't telling me everything. Mom has decided to stay in town, she says it is because she was offered a television pilot and needs to get back in shape."

"If your mom is out of shape, I am in serious trouble." Veronica said then asked about the morning before he left at the Casablancas house. "Do you think Dick is going to give Mac a bad time about it."

With a knowing grin, Logan couldn't resist saying "I am glad you didn't ask if he was going to give her a hard time about it, because…"

"I should have known better than to ask you." She said glaring at him for trying to turn this into a sexuel inneduno. "You guys all stick together."

"Seriously, I am not sure how he is going to react, Dick likes her he has for a while but something happened a few years ago and he won't ask her out." He said still keeping his best friend's secrets. "Dick might not even remember, he had to go to Los Angeles, his grandfather died and his mom tried to steal his inheritance before the body was even cold."

Veronica found she was glad she wasn't rich as Logan filled her in on the call from the former Mrs. Casablancas to her son. "She already tricked Cassidy into giving away his share? What kind of mom does that to her sons?"

"She has come back to town once since the divorce five years ago and then only to take his dad to court regarding some loft they own in New York City that they share." Logan said disgusted. "Sadie, the first stepmom at least tried to be there for Beaver and Dick but the second one didn't even acknowledge their existence other than to yell at them about noise."

Veronica rested her head next to Logan's then asked him "Would you go to Lilly's grave with me next weekend. I haven't been there since she died."

"Oh course." He replied then reached out to enfold her hand into his as they sat there enjoy the peaceful afternoon together.

Hearing the phone ringing was jarring, she walked to the desk and answered "Mars Investigations."

"I found the car, Veronica. It was at Angel Navarro's garage when the security system went silent." Mac then suggested that she call Weevil. "Whomever did this was smart, at first it pinged in the park. When I got there, a dog was wearing the signal on his collar. Oddly enough, after speaking to the owner I found out he was the Vandergraf's next door neighbor."

"Thanks Mac." She replied then hanging up looked at Logan and sweetly said "Would you please give me your good friend Weevil's cell phone number?"

"First of all, he isn't my friend." Logan protested then pulling out his cell phone gave her the number. "What do you want Weevil to do?"

"Well, I was doing research on Troy Vandergraf earlier this year when he was so eager to date me. I know his history and I am beginning to think that this car theft wasn't an actual theft."

Dialing Weevil, she asked him to come to the office then sat down and filled Logan in on what was going on. "I am going to help Luke get out of trouble but I refuse to help him deal drugs."

Logan asked her how she was going to do that when her phone rang again this time it was Meg. "Veronica, I am with Weevil at his uncle's garage, he checked on what you were asking about and was told no that the Beemer wasn't there but he said that it was told to him with a wink whatever that means."

"Tell Weevil I owe him." Veronica said then when she hung up began to grin. "I think Weevil likes Meg."

"Veronica, no playing matchmaker. Meg's parents would freak if she began dating him and that would not be good." He warned then added "If you think there is peer pressure being an 09er try to imagine the peer pressure on Weevil to be a PCHer."

"Okay, okay." Veronica made like she was surrendering then said "So, want to help me make Troy pay?"

"What do you have in mind?" He asked cautiously.

"Tomorrow at school, try to be near his locker when I arrange for his dad to come to the school." She said as a plan began to form in her head. Standing, grabbing her messenger bag, she reached for Logan's hand and dragged him outside the office outer door, locked it and hurried to the street. "See you tomorrow."

"Hey, I was hoping we could plan to hang out tonight." He said with an exaggerated pout. "Why the bum rush?"

"Tomorrow, Troy's locker, I will explain later." She said driving over to Mac's house and all but kidnapping her friend. "So this is what I need."

Sure enough, when they double checked the men's room vents, they found the drugs. Dumping them into the toilet, Veronica and Mac replaced them with a bag of like looking fake pills supplied by a contact of her dad's.

"Veronica, are you sure you dad would approve of this?" Lebo had asked when they had stopped into his pharmacy.

"Its for a good cause, Bo." She said with a wide grin as she offered to pay him. An hour later, she was back home while Mac went to take care of a separate part of the plan.

Getting the background research on the Laker girl who had to be a Zombie considering she had died several years before, Veronica had just gotten Kendall's phone records when she noticed the time.

Calling Meg, she asked her about her job hunt and told the blond that she had seen a sign in the window of Java the Hutt and that it was hiring for a part time barista.

"Thanks, Veronica." When Meg had hung up, Veronica saw that it wasn't even six yet but close enough that she grabbed Backup's leash and suggested that they head out to the car.

Meeting Luke, she was not to happy to find out he had gotten the money by selling his Terrance Cook signed baseball to a known loan shark. "Do you really not know anyone with a criminal record?"

"You should talk." Luke snapped as they went to the gym where he had been working out. "I don't want to go inside, but I guess I can't let you go alone, can I?"

"Aw, are you worried about little ole me?" She asked then taking the cash told him to stay. When Luke began to get out of the car, she asked "Do you have a hearing problem."

"I thought you were talking to the dog." He said flushing as he sank back into the passenger seat.

"Backup is my backup. You stay here." She said entering the gym and asking for Luke's dealer, Hank. Seeing the large man working out, she didn't bothering hiding her sneer as she realized his muscles were the result of artificial enhancement. "We need to talk."

When the older man leered and made a point of wiping his mouth from pretend drool, she said "Luke won't be handing over your product. Here is your money back."

"Luke and I, we have a deal. He owes me two hundred doses of steroids. I don't accept like it when people try to welsh on a deal with me." Hank retorted trying to move in closer.

"Stay where you are." She said cautiously. "My dog isn't just for show."

With a sneering laugh, he asked "Is that puppy supposed to scare me?"

Backup growled, then moved forward backing the muscle bound idiot back a few inches but the man clearly wasn't that smart as he once again threatened Veronica. Moving back towards the blond convinced the dog was all bark and no bite, he soon learned that the dog was no joke when he ended up on his back and the dog on top of him. "Call him off!"

"Agree to my deal, leave Luke alone and I will call him off." She ordered. "And don't think you can renege on the deal and go after Luke later, if you do, Backup and I will make another visit, only this time you won't see us coming, Hank."

Seeing the agreement in his eyes, Veronica waited until he had verbally responded but she saw the dark anger in his eyes at being forced to let this go so after telling Backup to 'be cool', she led her dog out of the gym never turning her back on its occupants.

Leaving the gym, telling Luke to be scarce the next couple of days, Veronica checked her hidden camera and found that she had a great photo of the loser.

Twenty minutes later, at the office, her computer beeped signalling her that a certain car was heading south towards Tijuana. Sending the photo and a note supposely from the Neptune police department telling the border patrol agents who to be on the lookout for, she went home and worked on her school work for the next day.

She also had the challenges on her mind, Meg said that she had figured out a way to do one of hers and Mac was refusing to even think about them until she had taken her computer exam fourth period.

It was almost midnight when her computer beeped again, this time telling her that one Henry aka Hank Messiner had been arrested by border patrol agent with a large amount of illegal drugs entering the country. Mr. Messiner had then tried to flee the agents and took a shot at them, now in jail, he was not going to get bail.

As she fell into bed, her body settling into a deep exhausted sleep, Veronica didn't hear her cell phone ringing, nor did she notice the message being left by a desperate blond who had read the newspaper.

Lianne crumpled up the paper, then tossed it aside, before deciding to sober up, after all. Clearly Jake was getting rid of the obstacles to their being together. His son sent away to Europe and his wife, finally, fatefully Jake Kane had filed for divorce from the she-devil.

Leaving the message for Veronica, telling her how she eagerly looked forward to coming home and being a family with her and her father, Leanne stumbled off towards the no tell motel where she had been staying in Arizona.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Sorry couldn't figure out where to break the chapter and decided to give it all to you today for the two day update. Tomorrow begins the fulfilling of the dares and things began to get Hairy because Dick's tongue gets him in big, big trouble when he accidentally spills to Veronica what he overheard and who he overheard it with.

Chapter Ten

Lunch time the next day, Veronica was exhausted, so far she had had a surprise pop quiz in English, her National fitness test in gym and almost exploded the chemistry lab when her partner for the day John Enblom had misread the instructions.

Thankfully the teacher had overheard John's miscue and stopped the two of them. Telling John to mix the chemicals at Veronica's order, he frowned at the boy's annoying lament. "But Mars is way better at that then I and I need a good grade."

John was correct as their experiment had gotten her a 95, with John receiving only an 89 which only brought his grade up to a 82. After an hour with his odd ticks and hesitations, Veronica wanted nothing more than to spend lunch relaxing with her friends.

As she walked towards the lunch room, she felt someone grabbing her messenger bag and turned to confront who it was only to see Logan. With a delighted smile, she said "Thanks but I have it."

"You look like you are barely standing; let someone else carry the load for once, will you." He replied as they had a quick tug of war of her book bag, winning he then asked "So what is going to be happening at Troy's locker?"

"Oh crap, I forgot I wanted to see that." She said as she began to walk down the other hallway and away from the lunch room. Standing off to the side, watching as Troy stood there arguing with his father and the school principal, she hid her smile when he was ordered to open his locker and turn his cell phone over to his dad.

Troy's father was going through the history and contacts, muttering about his son's out of town girl friend Shauna turning Troy into an idiot.

Inside was nothing more serious than a set of keys and a pre paid cell phone along with all the standard school supplies, at least at first. When Sacks showed up with the drug dog, Logan saw Mac coming down the hallway and her wink at Veronica. "Showtime."

The German shepherd suddenly began to sniff the locker below Troy's, then growl and finally began barking as he moved directly in front of the kid's locker.

Sacks got permission from Morehouse to do a more thorough search and sure enough, inside the locker they found the party supplies that Troy had purchased in Tijuana along with how he secretly had stashed them in the empty locker below.

Mr. Vandergraf was staring at the key ring that Sacks had found, his eyes narrowing as he turned to his son to ask "Why do you have an electronic key for a BMW. You returned the one you had for my car. Whose key is that? I saw the Boston area code, Troy, stop lying to me. Do you get how serious this is?"

"That key fob belongs to one of my friends." He said pretending an indifference he didn't feel as he saw the key that shouldn't have been there, at least not yet. That idiot garage owner had been paid a lot of money for the stripped and redone Beemer but had sworn he couldn't get the key to him for at least a week.

Yet here it was, right where he had demanded two days before. "Mr. Vandergraf, I have to take your son to the station. This is a bit more serious than his usual speeding ticket." Sacks announced, knowing that thanks to the Duncan Kane case they had to avoid the public perception of certain students getting away with crimes.

The architect pulled out his own keys and saw that the numbers for the BMW didn't match his, clearly was relieved at the idea his son wasn't a car thief as well as a drug dealer.

"Take him, I will send my attorney." With that the architect left the building, not even walking his now handcuffed son out. Troy walked the usual gauntlet of students, getting called out by several including various 09ers who were outright laughing at the rich boy.

With a quiet whistle, Logan looked at Veronica, and then with a sardonic expression asked "Did I look that worried when you set me up?"

"A- I didn't set you up and b- no, but then you knew you weren't guilty." She said with a wink and laugh. "C'mon, let's go get some lunch; maybe I will let you buy me some food with your pirate points."

"Veronica all I have is a hundred bucks, so you will just have to order light." He teased as they walked towards the cafeteria, to the surprise of those students who hadn't heard the gossip from the Homecoming dance.

Mac slipped into the cafeteria after taking care of a small little errand of her own, she was debating telling Meg and Veronica what she was up to but didn't want to drag her friends into the middle of it if she got caught.

"Where have you guys been?" Meg asked as they joined her at their table. Mac decided to divert attention away from herself and saw the perfect way to do so.

Thanks to Logan sitting with them, Mac couldn't resist asking if he had gotten lost. "After all don't the 09ers eat over on the other side of the lunch room?"

"Careful missy, after all I know your secrets." Logan threatened as he winked at Mac. "So, how was the Casablancas guest bedroom? Was the bed comfortable enough?"

Flushing red, she glared at Logan and said "Dick has a big mouth."

"Word of warning for the future, he doesn't always filter what he says, but this time, I spy with my own eyes." He replied the small smile growing into a mischievous grin.

"You promised to behave. Mac, don't worry about it, Dick and Cassidy went to Los Angeles, their grandfather died." Veronica reassured her friend. Looking across the room when she heard her name being called, she saw a sheepish Wallace waving from where he was sitting with the potential basketball players.

"Poor Cassidy, I wonder how he is coping with losing his grandfather. Logan, where is the funeral today?" Meg said just as the two blonds, Georgia and Hannah walked by.

"See, I told you there was a reasonable explanation for Cassidy not being here." Georgia triumphantly informed her best friend as they continued to where their fellow sophomores were seated. Georgie had regretfully ended things with Wallace before school and now she wanted to be in the comforting embrace of her friends.

"Still it doesn't answer my question as to if he is dating one of them." Hannah said taking out her sandwich and biting into it.

Back on the other side of the quad, Madison was silent as she joined her friends at the lunch table. "You doing okay, Madison?"

Wanting to glare at Shelly for even daring to ask, she pretended indifference and asked "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, Duncan, He was your date. Your date that went terribly, terrible wrong, so, have you talked to Duncan since they took him out of the parking lot in a police car." She said archly as Kimmy and Carrie giggled.

Casey who had just joined them, felt bad for Madison, this hadn't been her fault but clearly her so called best friends were going to turn on her. Sitting down next to the brittle blond, he said "Why would it matter to Madison. After all she only went with him because he was on the court. It's not like it was true love. Shelly, you were the one who had sex with Duncan, shouldn't you be the one worried, who knows what caused Duncan to act like that."

"I-we-I-uh-" Shelly turned red as she tried to find the words to free herself from this predicament. Who would have thought Casey would stick up for Madison, who he barely tolerated?

"Yes, you and he had sex down at the beach this summer. It wasn't unprotected was it?" He asked pretending concern. "I slept through most of health class but wasn't there an STD that causes that kind of behavior if left untreated? Or maybe just maybe it was none of that, but either way, Madison wasn't responsible for what Duncan did, got it?"

Backing down, not wanting to challenge one of the three remaining 09er boys with the ability to socially destroy them, the trio fled and Madison turned to Casey. "I didn't need you help."

"Maybe not, but you had it. Look Madison, I don't like you, never have, but they were blaming you for something you had no control over which was wrong."

With that, Casey stood and walked over to join Logan who had just paid for Cho's pizza. "Any sausage left?"

"Help yourself man." Logan offered as he handed him some napkins.

Meg admitted to being nervous about going to apply for the after school job and Casey looked at her in shock. "Why would you want a job?"

"I am tired of asking my parents for money, they don't just give me a limit on a credit card, they don't approve of doing that." She said. "With a job, it would be my money to spend how I want."

"Oh." He said then looking at Mac asked if she was free that afternoon. "My grandmother wants me to have a pass code program set up on my computer since I am going to be doing work for the company. She wants to meet you before hiring you."

Agreeing to help in between bites of pizza, she added that it would have to be right after school. "I have a lot of homework, a family meeting in which my dad says he has a big surprise and something else going."

"That's fine, do you mind if I drive?" He asked his mind on her wreck of a car. "So that we don't break down."

Agreeing, then with a quick nod at Meg and Veronica took off towards the computer classroom. Meg looked at Veronica who seemed to be off in her own world and doubted she knew the answer but asked the question anyhow. "What is up with Mac?"

"Mac?" Veronica flushed then gathered her thoughts before saying "Uh, she has some big programming idea thing going on. I think."

Meg took off to speak to her cheerleading advisor who quickly agreed to sweet Meg's suggestion with encouragement and laughter. "Why don't we make an announcement that if they are interested in trying out for the team or the pep squad next season they meet you in the auditorium after school tomorrow?"

With a sense of relief, Meg hurried down the corridor to get to her next class thinking one challenge down two to go. The best part was she would be helping with the yearly community service project if this went well.

*MaDi*

Dick and Cassidy sat in the second row wearing dark suits, white dress shirts and dark ties, having slipped into the service for their grandfather by the skin of their teeth. Dick scowled when he saw his mother sitting in the front pew, her small sobs and tears not disturbing her mascara.

As the service continued, he saw several of the mourners looking at Beaver and himself making Dick feel self-coconscious as he tried to figure out what was going on in their heads.

Hearing the officiate mentioning his brother and himself, he saw the slight smirk on his mother's face as he got what the man was saying about Dick speaking for the family. Standing, moving towards the podium, he stopped and shook the hand of man in the long white gown then went to stand in front of the large group of people.

"Hello." He said then tried to think what to say, when he heard his mother make a comment to the man dressed in the conservative suit next to her, he realized what he had to do. NOT SCREW THIS UP or she would win.

"Hello, I am Dick, Theo's grandson. I wish I could stand up here and speak about my grandfather in glowing personal terms, but I never met the man. I spend the last few days, researching who he was and I find I really wish I had gotten a chance to have actually know him." The blond felt foolish as he tried to figure out the right words to say.

Cliff the attorney had given him a file two hours before and both Beaver and he had read it, not wanting their mother to spring anymore surprises on them.

"He sounds like he was a pretty good guy. My late grandma too." He said wincing at how odd that statement had to sound to the guests as he repeated what he had read about his grandfather's business and charitable history.

"Anyhow, I just wanted to thank all of you for attending this ceremony, rites are important to people. We need them to get closure, to move on and accept the changes and stuff each rite involves." He said flushing a bit. "So I would like at this time to thank each and every single one of you who has or had a part in making my grandfather the man he was when he was alive."

Seeing his mother frown, Dick continued to speak "My brother and I appreciate all of you taking the time out of your busy day to honor the man. I only hope that some day, I am half the man he was during his lifetime and I hope to honor his memory by fulfilling his dreams for my brother and myself. Thank you."

Stopping at the coffin, he looked at the old dude laying there and reached in his pocket and stuck the seashell he had grabbed the night at the beach in his grandfather's pocket. Clearly one thing he had in common with the old man was a love of the ocean.

At the end of the service, the man in the robes asked Beaver and himself to join him in greeting the outgoing guests, hearing his mother speaking to yet another man wearing an expensive suit and an annoyed expression, Dick just followed the priest to the doorway and found himself shaking hands and watching over his brother as he did the same.

When his mother came towards the two boys, he looked at Beaver who was clearly upset and suggested he head back to the hotel in the limo. "That lawyer Cliff should be there."

But that leaves you stuck with Mom." Beaver whispered in his ear, torn between escaping and staying to support Dick.

"Its fine, dude. Besides, I know that you are just so eager to find out what you missed in class today." He teased then when Beav had left, his smile faded away as he turned to his mother who was now standing in front of him.

"I can't believe you had the nerve to show up, let alone speak. You never even knew my father." His mother hissed as she reached to grab onto his arm. Seeing the reporters in the distance, she hid her anger and tried to make it seem like she was guiding him towards the remaining waiting limo.

"Mom, if you don't want me to start screaming about how you are hurting my arm and create scene for the press, let go of me. NOW!" Dick ordered as he took in the artificial woman in front of him.

He could see her need to shout at him warring with her need to not create a scene and when she wavered in her grip, Dick freed his arm then reached for hers as if escorting her to the waiting vehicle. When they were inside, she began to snipe at him, but Dick had had more than enough.

Turning to the lawyer with her, he asked "Are you the estate attorney or my mother's lawyer?"

Dick saw the man's eyes meeting his mothers, then shift to the left before looking at him and saying he was the estate attorney.

"Really, how about this question, maybe it will be a little simpler, who pays your bills? My mother or my grandfather's estate?"

That is none of your business." The gentleman retorted.

Dick leaned up and asked the chauffer, "Are you part of the estate or are you an employee of the funeral home or something?"

"Your grandfather's estate employs me, Master Richard." The older man said looking at the young man who resembled his grandfather. "My name is Paval Fetisov."

"Great, so you now work for me, Mr. Fetisov?" Dick asked.

"When your grandfather's will is probated, yes." He replied.

"Then pull over and open the door to help the bloodsucker in the back seat out. My mother's lawyer can find another ride." Dick answered and ignoring his mother's shrieks, watched as that was exactly what happened.

"How dare you?" She coldly snapped.

"Mother and I am using the term loosely because I honestly think Hera or one of those other women who killed their own kids were better mothers than you. Mother after what you pulled last week, I dare to do a lot." Dick snapped. "What you did to Beaver and what you tried to do to me, what kind of mother tries to steal from her own sons?"

"You don't deserve that money. Your dad made sure I got nothing more than was in my prenup, I am almost broke." She snapped. "You, you never even met my father."

"I am not going to argue with you." Dick said then admitted "If you had asked, come to me and asked I would have given you all of it. But you lied and cheated and by doing so, you hurt Beaver."

When she rolled her eyes, he interrogated "Why did you have us if you didn't want to be a mother 'cause you are terrible at it."

"Your father made a deal with me when we got married, an heir and a spare, just in case. He wanted the money from his father and I wanted the approval of mine. My father promised me he would leave me his estate in his will if I settled down and had kids. Well I had you, in spite of what it did to my figure." She stated as she glared at Dick.

"Mr Fetisov, would you drop my mother off wherever she is hiding her coffin along with the rest of her baggage these days and then take me back to my hotel. I am quite certain she shouldn't be out in daylight." Dick asked and sat back before pulling his iPod out of his pocket and placing the ear buds in his ears.

Twenty minutes later, his mother stepped out of the open passenger side rear door, leaned in and pulled on the cord of his ear buds then said "I am going to fight the will, you just wait and see. You are not capable of running my father's company and I won't allow you to ruin it."

"I love you too, mother." He called out the door as she walked towards the entrance to the Beverly Hills hotel. When the door had been shut and Paval was once again behind the wheel, Dick pulled off his buds and said "To the Shutters in Santa Monica, please."

A few miles away, they hit a traffic snarl and Dick leaned up and said to the driver "So, was my grandfather the sort to surf or anything?"

"Sailing young Master Richard." The man answered. "He loved his sailboat."

"Could you just call me Dick dude, Master Richard makes me sound like that cartoon kid Richie Rich." He implored the older man.

"How about a simple Richard, would that make you comfortable." The chauffer asked. When Dick nodded in relief, he asked "And your brother is there a name he would prefer?"

"Well I call him Beaver, but I guess that wouldn't be right, would it huh? So why don't you call him Cassidy or something. It's his real name but he kinda didn't like it for a while. So when this will stuff is done, does that mean you will come to Neptune or something?"

"That depends on you." The man stated while inwardly hoping for the invite, he had often been informed by Theo about his young and energetic grandsons, and they sounded like it would be very interesting to watch them mature.

"Oh." Dick said feeling slightly bummed at the idea of ordering people about. Well at least more staff, he didn't want responsibility he had had enough of that kind of stuff with that mess they made in protecting Veronica.

"I never thought about that. I guess, maybe if you could teach poor Beaver to drive. I kinda suck at teaching him how to do it. He gets all tense and stuff and then I get all tense and then we end up fighting over the music before we even leave the driveway."

"That will be fine, Ma- Richard." He said with a slight smile. "Your grandfather was a good man, he was always so curious about your brother and yourself but felt that you were better off in Neptune than here in Los Angeles."

"But he didn't know us dude." Dick protested as he sat back. Traffic had begun moving again as they plodded along at fifteen miles per hour.

"He regularly hired a private eye, one Vincent Van Lowe to keep an eye on the two of you. It was only recently that he learned Mr. Van Lowe wasn't giving him the full story in exchange for money from your mother."

"That so isn't cool. He should have hired Mr. Mars, he is an honest dude, those I guess when he was Sheriff that wouldn't have worked, would it?" Dick asked feeling depressed at the idea of a relative who would have cared dying without his actually meeting the dude.

*LoVe*

Early the next morning, Logan saw his mother watching the news as she drank her morning tea and asked "What is so exciting?"

"That young Troy Vandergraf was caught crossing into New Mexico last night after getting out of jail after being caught with over a thousand pills, mostly ecstasy and but he was also apparently sold some fake steroids. He claimed to not know of the steroids. His father hung him out to dry because it appears the car he was driving belonged to his dad and he tried to claim it was stolen. This after being bailed out of jail mere hours earlier."

"Sounds like Troy is in trouble." And that is why you don't want to mess around with one Veronica Mars, Logan inwardly crowed as he got ready for school. Letting his mother know he had an assignment for journalism after school, he went to get his SUV.

Veronica was half awake as she met Mac and Meg in the bathroom before class. The three girls caught up on each other's evenings, teased Mac about her mysterious Internet friend then listened to Veronica's plan to fulfill one of her dares.

After verifying no one was in there, Mac handed over her newest invention. "Okay, are you sure about this, Veronica?"

"Yes, trust me; Don Lamb has not seen a Harry Potter movie." She said as she put the voice altering device to the pre-paid cell phone. Calling the current Sheriff's cell phone, she realized that wouldn't work then hanging up called the office.

Getting past Greta by pretending to be a reporter, she soon had Don Lamb on the phone and using a male voice said. "I would like to report an anonymous tip."

Hearing the sound of Lamb apparently trying to think, Veronica said "I heard some kids talking about a secret party spot, where there is going to be a major party. I wasn't supposed to know about it but two of the kids were getting off work at the mall."

"Where is this party spot?" She could hear the sudden eagerness in Lamb's voice now that he knew it wasn't his 'donors aka the 09er parents' kids he would be busting.

"Uh, I am not sure of the exact location, but I know that they are calling it the Chamber of Secrets. That the way to get instructions on how to get there is in the girl's bathroom."

"Which girl's bathroom? At the mall? At the school? What is your name?" He asked getting frustrated with this idiot who clearly seemed to be determined to drive him insane.

"I think they said it was at the school. Is there an award for reporting this? Because I really, really could use the money. I wanted to check into it, but you nah, I wasn't allowed in the girls bathrooms, they would think I was a perv." Veronica asked perkily.

"The reward of doing your civic duty should be more than enough award." Lamb snapped "Did you hear anything else?"

"Just that there was a dog involved, a huge one and uh, I think a snape or was that a snake mentioned." Veronica said then hung up as she began to laugh. Looking at the other two, she asked "Do you think he bought it?"

"We should see soon enough." Mac said as she took the small hand held devise and dismantled it into smaller innocuous items. "We better get to class soon."

"Once down, two to go." Veronica reminded them as they went their separate ways. Meg just smirked, she had no intention of being the last to get her own challenges done.

Mac sighed, she had been trying to figure out who to prank with her own mystery message and everyone she came up with was lame.

*LoVe*

Meg saw Dick and Cassidy arriving back at school just before lunch and that they were quickly escorted into the Vice Principal's office. Heading to her quick meeting, she gave the head cheerleader the news of her special project with their mentor and was surprised when Dawn liked the idea. "We should wear our new uniforms."

"You know, I am hearing odd rumors about dancing cheerleaders, before I accept the bets, care to fill a brother in?" Teased Weevil as he sauntered towards Meg.

"Its not a rumor and that is all you are going to get." She said with a smile. "So, how was yesterday?"

"Are you trying to ruin my rep?" Weevil asked with his patented glare on his face. "Do you really think I want anyone here to know what my nana has me doing?"

"Your secret is safe with me." Meg said with a knowing wink. "So, I have to go meet Carmen, she is helping me with my little plan."

Leaving Weevil behind, Meg and a newly arrived Carmen were telling Veronica about their entertainment for the end of the week. "Want to join us. I am sure your old pep squad uniform would still fit."

"No way." Veronica asked just as Mac quickly joined them. "Well, well keeping secrets, Ms. Mackenzie?"

"Nope, just working in the lab and forgot it was lunch time." She replied as she pulled out the brown bag lunch. "I couldn't stomach mystery meatloaf so I brought in peanut butter and jelly, carrots, an apple and rice cakes."

When a large warm body settled in beside her, Mac heard the recognizable voice asking about the small round cakes as long fingers held them up to look at them. "What are these things?"

"Rice cakes, Dick. Healthy food, something I am sure you know nothing about because it doesn't contain your basic three good groups, pizza, Chinese and or pop tarts." She said trying to get her desert back. "Why don't you go eat your own food and leave your criticism of mine alone?"

"No can do. I am here for a reason. Casey asked me to tell you he had to cancel your after school date and I have a couple of questions that he promised you would answer if I was his errand boy." He said still holding onto the thing that looked like glued rice crispies even as his eyes met hers over them.

"Casey can't speak for me." Mac asked as she grabbed her rice cake and it ended up all crumpled. Pouting a bit, she glared at Dick as he ignored her anger and seemed to invade even more of her space. "Would you at least move over some, I am falling off the bench here?"

Why were you going on a date with Casey?" He petulantly demanded even as he bit into one of her baby carrots.

"I wasn't going on a date with Casey." Mac retorted as she grabbed the rest of her precious carrots and held them tightly in her left hand. "I just had a meeting with his grandmother about something."

Beaver was glaring at him but Dick didn't care. He wasn't going to let Casey horn in on him just as he got the courage up to try and fix things with Mac. Biting into the last bit of carrot, he went to lift the apple but found a small hand covering it.

Placing his hand on top of Mac's, he leaned in and whispered "I ordered that salad stuff that you got Beaver to eat last Saturday; it will be here in fifteen minutes, so relax, Mackie. You won't starve."

"I have some place to be then." She snapped. "Now, I was feeling bad about your grandfather but right now, you are being an ass, Dick. So excuse me."

Standing, Mac stomped away, missing the sad way that Dick's eyes followed her across the quad and towards the parking lot. Hearing someone calling his name, Dick turned to greet Meg. "What's up, Meg."

"You okay?" She inquired as she watched him still looking sad. "You need to relax; Mac has been tense all day. She got into an argument with her parents this weekend about something then last night this time about their holiday plans."

"Oh." Dick had no experience with that; usually his only arguments with his parents were about them trying to screw Beaver and him over. "I saw the car was back in the garage."

"We dropped it off last night. Mac didn't feel right keeping it even an extra day." She said then seeing his now disappointed expression said "Besides, there wasn't enough parking for both it and her car at her parent's house."

Watching as Dick seemed to cheer up a bit; she squeezed his shoulder then leaned in to tell him. "Mac is working for Casey's grandmother, they aren't dating nor is Mac interested in Casey but you need to understand she might not realize you are interested yet."

Veronica was still discreetly looking for Logan and felt a sense of relief when she saw him arriving at almost the end of lunch. When he grabbed a bowl and ate some of the salad, she asked if everything was all right.

"Yeah, I just had an odd run in with that odd Wanda Varner girl. She had seen me taking to Lucky and seemed to think I was buying drugs off of him. Offered to get me a hookup." He said then shaking the odd run in off, he asked "So, Mom wanted me to invite you to dinner."

"I wish I could but dad is still out of town and I am running the office. Mac and I got most of the research done for his cases but I have to get photographs of this woman who will only be in town tonight." She regretfully declined.

"I have to report on the Laker Girls helping with the Save the Earth fundraiser tonight but hoped we could talk before dinner." Logan said a bit down in spite of the idea of being surrounded by hot girls.

"You are attending that, can I come?" Veronica suddenly asked. Seeing Logan's confusion considering her earlier rejection, she leaned in and said "That is where my target is going to be."

"Sounds like a date." He said happily. "I will call Mom and tell her we will meet her there."

"Your mom is going to a Laker girls' fundraiser?" Veronica asked a bit astounded at the idea. Normally these things were full of rich men trolling for artificially enhanced mistresses.

"My dad was sent the tickets and it was a fundraiser so she thought we should represent the family." Logan said rolling his eyes. Logan loved his parents but truly hated the public part of their careers.

*LoVe*

After school, Mac dropped Wallace off at his house, the ball player reluctant to go inside but finally deciding that he had to obey his mother's orders. "So, why are you so bummed?"

"I am arguing with my dad. I have school plans at Thanksgiving time and he wants to take a road trip. He won a free trip to the Grand Canyon and was upset that my mom agreed I should be able to stay home by myself. Its a mess, sometimes I can't help wondering if I was adopted."

Mac hurried home and locked herself in her bedroom to work on her computer code. She regretted blowing off her friends but right now, she needed the soothing familiarity of numbers and the click of her fingers hitting the keys on her keyboard.

An hour later, just as she was about to go get something to eat, she heard her Mom knocking on her door and then the sound of Ryan calling out that a boy was there to see her.

Unlocking her door, curious as to who they were talking about, Mac's eyes widened when she saw a sheepish John Enblom standing there. "Do you have a moment, Mac? It's important."

Stepping back wondering how he knew where she lived, she kept the bedroom door opened then sat down at her computer desk wondering why one of the richer 09ers was in her bedroom. "What is it? Why are you here? How do you know where I lived?"

Sitting down on Mac's bed, John looked around awkwardly then said "My closet is as big as this bedroom, how do you stand it?"

"Us normal people don't have rooms the size of classrooms. Instead of insulting me, why don't you tell me why you are here?" She asked again.

"I wasn't insulting you, I guess not intentionally." He said his hand going to rub the back of his neck then his eyes meeting hers he mumbled "I did something stupid a few weeks ago. I was in trouble and had to work as an aide after school and I gave some student ID pass codes to another person and well its has come to bite me in the ass. Can you make the evidence disappear? I swear no one was hurt. It was just a prank but it could cost me a lot. I am being blackmailed by someone."

"Why didn't you go to Veronica?" She asked.

"I was thinking about talking to her today in chemistry but I don't need to know who, I just need to remove the evidence permanently off my computer." He said.

"Did you send this out as an e-mail?" She asked astounded at his stupidity.

"No." He said angrily then said "I sent myself an email from my school account with a list of the numbers and names of the pass codes. Printed it and handed it to the person."

"Okay, so I am deleting this from both of your accounts." Mac asked as she saved her own programming and logged onto the school site thinking to keep a copy for herself just in case he had lied to her.

"The good news is that the school site thanks to privacy issues can only hold old emails for a week after you delete them, so I am assuming you deleted the draft already?"

"Yes." John said then watched in fascination as her fingers flew over the keys and then ten minutes later said that that account was taken care off. Giving her his email for Google, he watched as she went to work, this time taking a lot longer but surely enough she logged off and said "Its done, but next time, John, I won't help."

"Thanks, Mac. How much do I owe you?" He asked.

"Nothing. You just gave me an idea of how to fix something in my programming and trust me that is worth more than my usual hundred bucks." She replied but didn't protest when he insisted on paying her. Watching as he left, she cringed when her mother's broad grin came into view. "It's not like that Mom, he only wanted help with some computer work."

"You never know. Besides, there is always that nice Casablancas boy. He was so sweet looking." She said talking about Cassidy.

Groaning in annoyance, Mac went to join her family for dinner, her strained relationship with her dad growing when she heard him agreeing with her mom about how Mac was growing up.

Heading back to her, Mac logged online, hoping that Bogart would be on tonight. He had been rather quiet the last few times they had talked and she was worried that he was getting bored with talking to her.

*LoVe*

Veronica joined Logan and his mother as they ate pizza for dinner. Lynn saw her surprise at the quick meal and explained that she had had a meeting earlier and had forgotten to tell the housekeeper to leave something out for dinner. "I am glad you are going with us, Veronica."

"I was planning on bringing my camera, if you don't mind, Mrs. Echolls." She stated and was told it was fine. "Logan, your father called about the fundraiser tonight. He had odd run in with one of the Laker girls and wants you to be careful. She was rather curious about you."

Rolling his eyes, Logan was about to dismiss the warning then looking at Veronica suddenly asked. "Who are you trailing?"

"A Laker girl for a client of my dad's. She is looking for a sugar daddy." Veronica said as she stated that she can't go any more detail. The threesome went out to the limo, then seated in the back talked about random things, including the kids schooling as they drove over to the Grand.

Getting out and walking past the flashbulbs of the press and into the ballroom. Lynn went to greet her friends and acquaintances and Logan followed Veronica around.

"So, what does your target look like? Maybe I could help locate her?" He asked as they skirted around the outside of the large crowds.

"Here." When Logan whistled, Veronica's glare had him hiding his smirk as he pretended to think the brunette was hot.

When she looked like she was steaming mad, he leaned in and whispered. "Uh, Ronnie, whoever you think she is interested in, it more than likely isn't true unless your client is a man looking for who his wife is cheating on. This is why Dick Senior is divorcing his third wife."

"He slept with her?" She asked as she frowned, the girl in the picture looked like she was barely twenty-five and Dick Senior was at least forty-five.

"No, she slept with the third Mrs. Casablancas." Logan said and saw Veronica's jaw drop. "Yup, trust me, this girl likes girls. Dick and I saw the pictures the PI gave his dad when we were at Dick Sr. office before he left for his trip two months ago."

"There is nothing like that in her background." She stuttered and then gripped Logan's arm and said "Don't move."

Snapping the photo she needed, she quickly put her camera away then looking at Logan said with a flirty smile. "Entertain me."

Logan pulled her off to the corner and created stories about the various guests that had her laughing. Neither of them noticed the photographer slipping in past security nor that the man had taken their picture.

Lynn watched the two children from across the room, talking to Caroline Baxter and Gwen Rittis. When she saw Brandy Lewis moving their way, she quickly got between the blond and her son. "Stay away from Logan, Brandy."

"Hello Mrs. Echolls." Said the twenty-one year old actress. "How are you, I had heard that you moved down here to the sticks."

"Did you hear what I said?" Lynn said glaring at the slutty young woman who had chased after her husband then when Aaron had rejected her, had gotten Logan drunk and seduced him when her son was only twelve. Brandy had been sixteen at the time so legally they had no recourse but she had still damaged their son. "Or do I have to remind you of the damage the threat of that restraining order can do to your career?"

Frowning but pressing on, Brandy played dumb. "Why would you threaten me? Seriously, what could I have possibly done to you?"

"Brandy, I have the local Sheriff on speed dial. Don't force me to make that call; your career will crash so fast that you will end up doing All Star Celebrity Rehab." Lynn threatened.

The blond wearing the tight barely there black dress was going to create a scene but saw the way that Lynn seemed especially eager to keep her away from Logan that night.

Seeing Aaron's son begin to laugh about something with the blond girl that had come in with them, she said "Who is the blond with Logan?"

"Brandy, Logan is none of your business." She warned then pulled out her phone and took a photo. "Now, I suggest you leave while I am still sending this photo to our attorneys."

Brandy wanted to keep creating trouble, but she had gotten something that she could sell. If Lynn Echolls was protecting this girl, wasn't even giving up her name, then clearly there was a story there and she was important to them.

That would be worth something to TMZ and she owed them a tip after her last one had blown up in her face. Moving towards the exit, she was almost to the door when she heard the man in the doorway greeting a tall gentleman.

"Mr. Kane, it's nice to see you. How wonderful of you to come and support this event."

Jake had come for one reason only. Keith had called from Vegas, mentioning that Veronica would be attending this evening with Logan and his mother. "I had already sent a check, but I felt that it was important to support the shelter with my presence as well as my money."

Jake walked past the blond and then heard the ringing of his cell phone. Frowning when he saw the blocked number, he answered the phone and heard Lianne's voice.

Brandy had been about to leave but the name Jake Kane was one she knew, he was a billionaire and there were stories about his daughter Lilly and Logan when the blond had died.

Eavesdropping, she heard him curtly tell something that they were delusional and that he hadn't left his wife for her. "Lianne, you need to stop calling me. I am not going to be playing happy home with you, ever."

There was some silence as he tightly gripped onto the phone. "Stay away from Veronica, Lianne. You were given money to go away now do what you were paid to do."

Brandy left, and in her car wrote down the names then called her contact. Giving him the names, she said "I want payment."

"When I find out that it is worth something, I will pay you." Hanging up on the former kiddie star, the reporter began to do some digging.

Lynn watched Brandy leaving and then called her agent. "Brandy Lewis was at the party tonight."

Going to join the young couple, she was glad to hear that they were ready to head out. On the way out the door, the flash bulbs were bright in the night sky as the press took even more photos of the Echolls family.

*LoVe*

Don Lamb was not happy when the janitor insisted on walking with him as he checked the bathrooms for the code to this mystery party spot.

Finding the odd markings in the bathroom nearest the entrance to the school, he took a picture then moved on to the next and then the next until he had taken photos of all the odd markings in the girl's bathrooms.

Lucky just leaned against the doorway, then asked "Did you get all you needed, Sheriff?"

Going to his patrol car, Don tried to figure out the clues and eventually got that the last clue was in the girl's locker room. Back in the school, he insisted that the locker room be unlocked and entered the sink area.

"Pheonix. What the hell kind of clue is that?" He muttered. "What the hell is going on at these parties that they need all these signals."

Turning to Lucky, he asked "Have you ever heard of the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Dah, of course." Lucky said wondering why the Sheriff was wasting his time. "Why?"

"Do you know where it is?" Don asked. "How come you haven't reported it?"

"Reported what?" Lucky asked. "Seriously, what is going on, dude. Cause you are really starting to confuse me. What does the Chamber of Secrets have to do with your searching the girls bathrooms for proof of a crime?"

"That is police business. Now unless you want me to arrest you for obstructing justice, tell me about the Chamber of Secrets." Lamb snapped.

"Okay, follow me." Lucky led him to the library and found the Harry Potter DVD's, tossing the second one at Lamb he said "Here."

Reading the title, Don tensed up and threw the movie on the counter as he stormed out of the library. In his patrol car, he drove back to his office, stomped inside and ordered his newest deputy to track down who had called him with the anonymous tip.

Leaving, he drove home, positive that somehow Keith Mars or his smart ass daughter was behind this waste of his time.

TBC


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Dick entered school the next morning, having been served by a process server with probate court documents. Cliff and his grandfather's law firm had dismissed his mother's lawsuit as frivolous but Dick still couldn't believe his mother would go so public with her greed.

In his first class of the morning, he heard Enblom and Luke trying to talk Casey into running for School President and tossed in his own opinion before slipping out to track down Logan. "We should get Meg Manning to run for Student class president." He announced as a greeting.

"I heard Veronica talking to her about it yesterday, Meg agreed to think about it and then talk to her parents." He replied. "So, what happened in LA?"

"My mother is still a bitch, I wish I had met my Grandfather and we brought his chauffer home with us to teach Beaver how to drive." Dick had moved the older man into the staff quarters, and then had called his father's assistant to let him know.

"Thank the gods." Logan called out towards the sky. Seeing Dick's glare he said "Beaver asked me to take over, said that things weren't going well with you teaching him."

A wry grin on his face, Dick said "Let's just say that he is right and leave it at that. So, how's it going with getting things back on track with Ronnie? Kissed her yet, dude?"

"No, not that I would tell you if I did. Just like if you should ever so much as happen to get to breath in Mac's space you should keep silent about it if you want a relationship with her." Logan went quiet for a moment then said "Right now, I am just trying to regain her trust. You heard what she said on the beach."

"Speaking of the beach, I sent Mac a gift today to help her achieve her own dares." Dick said as they finally arrived at the parking lot.

"Tell me you are kidding. Seriously, do you ever think before acting? We aren't supposed to know, Dick." Logan pointed out as he glared at his best friend.

"Trust me, she will have no clue that it was about what we heard, but its why we are here. I have a plan." Dick's crazy grin had Logan's heart beat skipping out of fear. "I am going to chase Mac, but not only as me. Bogart is going to decide he wants his computer girl pal. "

Groaning, Logan leaned on the hood of his truck, looked at Dick and said "What have you done?"

"Apple girl is going to receive a gift this week from Bogart. It's from something we talked about, at the same time; I am sending Mac this large dog I found in Los Angeles along with a note." Opening his Hummer door, looking around to make sure that Veronica or nobody else was nearby, he pulled out the note and handed it to Logan.

Logan read the note, felt his eyes widen then looked at Dick. "You are so dead man."

"I have a plan." The blond boy said as he returned the note to the car glove box. "She already thinks I am a jackass, so I am going to BE A JACKASS, then smooth things out and at the same time Bogart will be wooing her online. See, she won't ever suspect that we overheard what we overheard."

Slapping his pal on the shoulder, Logan listened as Dick told him the plot of the movie that he had seen and began to realize that maybe, just maybe it wasn't such a stupid idea after all. With Dick doing all of this, he will HAVE to keep things quiet which hopefully will help him with the girl.

*LoVe*

Veronica was doodling on her notebook as Mr. Rook covered the Battle of Lexington. Hearing her name, she looked up to see Mr. Clemmons standing in the doorway, along with Don Lamb and a handsome dark haired young officer she didn't know.

Freezing, thinking on how her dad had been tracking down a dangerous bail jumper for the past week, she almost couldn't move then her name was called again. Rushing to the doorway and asked scared "My dad, did something happen to my dad?"

Don Lamb felt a moment's dread at the idea then recalled how he had spent the night before and snapped "No, and its not like I would bother coming here. I would send..."

"Enough remember that you are Sheriff, young man." Mr. Clemmons stated then turning to Veronica said "As far as I know your father is fine. Sheriff Lamb and his deputy have some questions about an anonymous call he is convinced you made."

Turning to the Sheriff, she batted her eyes and said "Someone making prank calls saying how you are a hottie tottie copper again. Well it wasn't me _this time_."

Tensing up because there had been a serious of just such calls the year before, Don Lamb's eyes went hard as flint as he said "No and you know what you did yesterday."

"Let's see...Got up and walked Backup down on Dog Beach. Came to school, got my grade on my English Quiz, a 99 if you are interested." She asked with an inquiring glance, and then pretending to be crushed when Lamb just glared, she said "After that, I had several more classes, lunch with my friends and a few of my not so friends. Went to even more classes, went home walked Backup again. That fiber thing, it's true for not just for people. Wait, did I forget to clean up one of Backup's number two's?

"Is that it, Don? Did you do such a brilliant job that all the criminals are in jail from anonymous tips to hotlines and all you have left is to track down random feces droppings and arrest their owners?" She asked now winking at the handsome young cop with Lamb who looked like he was dying to burst out laughing.

"No and you know it. Who did you pay to make the call, Veronica?" Veronica watched as the vein in Lamb's forehead began to throb.

What call, Lambie pooh?" She said with a wink at the officer she now saw was named Leo. When he turned his laughter into a cough, she turned back to Lamb who was now clenching and unclenching his fists.

"Enough, Veronica do you know anything about an underground party spot that the 02ers have nicknamed the Chamber of Secrets?" Clemmons felt like he was dealing with children instead of one of his smartest students and the currently elected Sheriff.

Veronica burst out laughing and when she saw Lamb's face, said "You have got to be kidding me. No. C'mon, this sounds like someone is playing a joke."

Pretending to get serious, she looked as innocent as possible at Clemmons and said "Oh, wait, you think that I was the one... No, I know nothing about this."

"I want a sample of your handwriting." Lamb snarled and Veronica offered her notebook to Mr. Clemmons and said "Could you copy this for him, but I need it back. Mr. Rook is already preparing to test us on the Revolutionary War next week and I need it to pass."

Clemmons escorted the two officers back to his office then said to Lamb. "I told you it was a long shot that Veronica Mars had anything to do with this. You told me the caller was a male. Are you positive that it wasn't one of the PCHer's. From what I understand they don't like you either."

*LoVe*

Veronica was still laughing as she sat down at her lunch table and looking at Mac said "Lamb just accused me of knowing where the Chamber of Secrets is."

"Did you tell him you weren't Harry Potter or JK Rowling?" She said with a wink and a sense of worry because she still hadn't done one of her dares.

"No. I was laughing too hard." She said with a smirk then looking around said "When are Meg and her co-stars arriving?"

When Logan entered the room, Veronica wasn't surprised when he chose to join them at their table, but was amused when Luke and Enblom sat nearby. Starting to make a comment, she stopped when she saw Beaver sinking down next to Mac and moaning "I have had such a bad day."

"Aw, poor beagl-er Beaver." Mac quickly changed it from Beagle to Beaver. Seeing Cassidy's hurt expression, Mac groaned then said "I wasn't going to say Beaver at first, but... Well do you recall the other night?"

"Not really much of it. Meg said I told her to leave my pop tarts alone." He admitted with a flushed face as he looked around to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

Leaning in, Mac whispered "You were also dreaming of the Easter Bunny and jelly beans."

His hands were on his head as Cassidy said softly so that only Mac could hear "When we were kids, I was convinced by Dick that Jelly Belly's were like Jack's mystery beans and that they would grow inside my stomach. I was having a nightmare."

"Mac what are you two whispering about? Should we leave you two silly kids alone" Logan teased then looking up saw the stricken expression on a passing young blond's face as she watched Mac and Beaver then rushed out of the room crying. "Hey, Beaver, you breaking any hearts we should know about?"

Lifting his head from near Mac's, Cassidy asked "What are you talking about?"

"Pretty blond girl in jeans and a pink sweater set just ran out of here like a bat out of hell after watching you talking to Mac." Veronica reported.

"Pretty blond wearing a sweater set? What's a sweater set?" Cassidy asked, his confused expression reminding Mac even more of a beagle.

"A sweater over another sweater in a very thin material." Mac offered up.

"I don't know anyone like that." Cassidy said then looking at Mac said "What were we talking about?"

"I don't remember." She said then it hit her. "Oh, I was about to call you a beagle and quickly changed it to Beaver so you wouldn't be upset but you were so I was going to explain why I almost called you a beagle."

"The dog type of beagle?" He asked now getting offended.

"Yes." She said then quickly put the blame on Meg. "Meg said you reminded her of a beagle, you know like a snoopy dog."

Suddenly sitting up a bit, Cassidy blushed for a moment then admitted "I kind of always like those cartoons. I don't mind that a bit. So, what do you see everyone else as?"

"Uh, well... Logan as a Chocolate Lab." She said making Cassidy laugh when he saw that Veronica and Logan had settled into their own conversation. "Veronica as pointer dog. You know a hunter. Meg as a Greyhound. You know, pretty without being a poodle."

"And what about Dick?" He asked teasing the girl.

"Easy, an English Sheepdog." She said. "You know the sort, large, hairy and thinks he is a lap dog."

Cassidy felt a sinking sensation and gulped hard as his voice came out very high. "Logan."

"We already covered Logan." Mac said as she tried to recall the other dogs that they had thought their classmates resembled.

"No!" Cassidy suddenly stood and grabbed Logan his voice still unnaturally high as he called out "Logan, I need to talk to you, RIGHT NOW!"

With that Logan shrugged at Veronica and Mac then followed Beaver to the entranceway to the school. "What is going on, Beaver?"

"Trouble and I mean big, big trouble." He said with a groan. "Dick told me about what happened at the beach."

"He can't keep a secret if his life depended upon it." Logan said glaring at Beaver hoping he had the sense to stay quiet. Logan had only just gotten Veronica back as a friend; he didn't want to lose her before he even found a way to have her as more.

"It's not like that; he wanted my help buying some stuffed animals for Mac. We went shopping and he didn't like any of the bears or the rest of the fricken zoo of animals we found at Toy's R Us. He dragged me to several different shops, Logan. Anyhow, that isn't what is wrong. It's what he ended up getting her and I helped him write the note he attached."

"I saw the note. He is begging for trouble." Logan warned. "Reminding Mac of sleeping with him."

"You have no idea." Cassidy said with feeling. "Seriously no idea. I was talking to Mac about dogs just now. Don't ask for the whole story, we don't have enough time. Dick went to send it to her just now. We have to stop him."

"We can't, he skipped out of study hall and went before lunch so he could be back to see this thing Meg is putting together." Logan said then saw Beaver paling and sinking onto a nearby bench. "What is it, how bad could it be?"

"Remember the note?" When Logan nodded, Beaver filled him in on what Mac had just told him about comparing them to dogs.

Suddenly laughing hysterically, Logan settled down next to Beaver, his arm going around the younger boy's shoulders and said "Mac is going to kill Dick, then revive him and kill him again and again."

"I know, should we warn him?" Cassidy asked not sure he wanted between Dick and what was coming his way. He loved his brother but some part of him was afraid of Mac who would surely have Veronica and Meg on her side.

"Either way, we are dead too. You do know that, don't you?" Logan asked then began to laugh again. "Do you know the rest of his plan?"

"Yes, do you?" Cassidy asked as classmates walked past the two of them, making a wide arch to avoid the clearly insane twosome who were now laughing in between giving suspicious glances to anyone passing.

"Its Dick, of course I know." Logan said then looking at Beaver began to laugh again. "At the very least we are going to end up tasered. Veronica already warned me about Dick upsetting Mac over things."

Standing, walking back to the table where the two girls were whispering furiously, Logan asked "Do you think they know already?"

Looking at the box on the table in front of Mac and Cassidy fatalistically said "Remember the rest of the plan, well Dick already put it in play. That box Mac has, it's the second part of Dick's plan or should I say Bogart's plan."

Seated next a now silent Veronica, Logan took a bite of the now delivered pizza then asked "What's in the box, sugarbuns."

"Logan, call me that again and I will hurt you." The blond said as she leaned into his side and pinched him. "Anyhow, that is Mac's box."

"So Mac, what is in the mystery box?" Mac slowly opened the box, unaware that her audience had expanded beyond those at her table to now include several 09er girls who had come over to find out why their boys were seated with the lower caste girls.

Pulling out the smaller box inside, Mac read the printed note then handed it to Veronica. "It's from Bogart."

The interior box contained a large tightly wrapped group of sharpened colored pencils tied together with a bright blue ribbon and with erasers the exact same color. "Oh, a bouqet of pencils. Now I get it."

Hearing Kimmy and Pam laughing, then pointing derisively towards her gift, Mac said "You've Got Mail."

"You are so strange and clearly your boyfriend whoever the loser is is even stranger." Kimmy snapped as she began to walk away. Veronica was about to go after them but Mac stopped her, stood and bowed sardonically in their direction then sat down. "Meg should be here soon."

Sure enough, Mr. Clemmons had stepped up to the small mic set up and made the announcement. "The Neptune girls cheerleaders and pep squad have been working to encourage team spirit and community involvement. Raising over six thousand dollars in only four day, today they are going to perform a small routine for you. Ms. Manning, the stage is yours."

Meg stepped up to the mic, blushing as she announced. "As part of the pep squad's community service project, we accepted donations to attempt to land in the Guinness book of world Records for performing the hokey pokey as a student body. Anyone wishing join in is welcome."

With that one of the students attached an iPod to the mic then the large group of girls spread out and began to dance to the hokey pokey.

There was some laughter at first, but as they got to the legs, some of the male athletes had joined including some who clearly didn't know their left from their right.

By the time they got to the chorus, there was a large group of students performing and Veronica who had pulled her camera out and began to snap photos for more than just her scrapbook.

Mac was laughing rather hard as Cassidy for some reason was suddenly turning her head to where she saw Dick had joined them. With more enthusiasm then grace, he almost tripped Meg but ended up catching the blond who just smiled and went back to dancing.

At the end, the too large group for the space performed the finally maneuver throwing their whole selves in and their whole selves out and everyone was now laughing with and not at the students.

The audience clapped as the routine came to an end and meanwhile Meg saw that the perfect target for her next dare had just walked into the room.

"So Casey, I heard you are running for student body president." She said with a breathless smile from her exertions.

"Yes. My grandmother talked me into it." He said carefully. "Why?"

"I am your competition." She said then turning bright red pressed a kiss onto his lips to the surprise of the entire student body. Hearing Cole shouting in the background calling her a slut as he stormed off, Meg stood there stunned to realize she had enjoyed the kiss.

Casey was stunned, both from the announcement Meg had made and from the kiss. Looking at the blond who had gone to greet Mac and Veronica. When they gave her a high five, Meg grinned and seemed to be waving two fingers in front of their faces.

When he felt Dick smacking him on the back, Casey looked at his friend and asked "What happened? What is going on?"

"The hokey pokey is what happened, dude." Dick said as he grinned at Casey. "Let's go get something to eat. Logan ordered Chinese."

The two boys walked past their classmates, most of whom were curious about the kiss and why in only two weeks so much had changed in their class divided high school. Meg and Casey weren't much of a surprise but the lunch table that now contained 09ers, jocks, geeks and Veronica Mars was.

Dick saw the way that Mac was picking up her 'bouquet' and stopping her asked "What nerd sent you those? Does your friend wear a pocket protector, carrying an inhaler? Blush when he thinks of seeing a girl naked? Seriously, what kind of geek sent you pencils as a gift?"

Stiffening as she turned to glare at the blond who had removed the pencils from her hands and was lifting them up to look closer at them. "Someone who you have nothing in common with. I swear, just when I think you are turning into a human being, you just can't resist mocking anything you don't understand."

"Oh, I understand." He said with a knowing smirk that had her wanting to scream. "You have a secret admirer who is too scared to tell you how he feels. How sweet."

Gritting her teeth, Mac suddenly looked at Dick and said "Yes, he is sweet and kind and thoughtful. He is insightful and charming. He makes me think of things that you wouldn't ever dream about."

"Don't be so sure of that. I mean I could be your nerdy little friend." Dick retorted. "After all aren't all geeks alike in the dark."

"I can't think of a single thing on this earth that I am sure of than that my friend who sent me this bouquet is nothing and I mean nothing like you. You are impulsive and while you can be kind for the most part you are anything but to anyone you don't like. Why do you always manage to fool me into thinking you are a nice person."

With that, breathing in a ragged breath, Mac stormed away then came back and removed her bouquet of pencils from his hands then wiping the non-existent tears she walked away without another word.

"Smart Dick, smart." He said out loud then slamming his hand on the table, he walked towards his math class.

Those nearby who cared turned to stare as Dick stormed away.

"What happened?" Logan asked Beaver who was sitting on a nearby table. "Your brother..."

"Just stuck his size eleven shoes so far down his throat they are wiggling from his ass." Beaver said shaking his head in disbelief as he gathered his books and went off to class. "He said annoy not make her want to cry."

*LoVe*

Keith dropped his prisoner off at the station, watching with relish the way that his replacement was grinding his teeth when he left the station. Heading home to shower, he checked his message then went to go through the mail.

Finding the divorce papers wasn't that big of a surprise but that Lianne was the one filing for the divorce was. Looking at the post mark, he frowned when he saw that it was from Flagstaff Arizona.

He had searched for Lianne in Flagstaff, had been told by her old friend that she had already traveled through there. Last he had heard Lianne was on the East Coast living with yet another old friend.

Now curious as to why Lianne had made a sudden move after over a year of silence, Keith let himself into the house, greeted an excited Backup then after dumping his bag in his room, he went to shower.

Leaving a voice mail for Veronica to let her know that he was home, ten minutes after a shower and shave, Keith drove over to his meeting spot and greeted Jake Kane.

"Lianne filed for divorce." He said as a greeting.

"She called me wanting to thank me for filing for divorce so that we can now be together. When I told it that I had no intention of getting back with her, she reminded me that Veronica was my child, and then said that she knew I would want to be a father to Veronica."

Grimacing, Keith said "So we were right about her reasons for fleeing, she really expected you to chase after her."

"I reminded her that I gave her money to go." Jake said with the taste of acid in his mouth. "Do you think she would come home after all of that?"

"Jake, Lianne thinks that the way to win you is through you being Veronica's father." Keith stated. "She didn't tell the truth for that reason but once it was out, she had certain expectations. I am sure that she isn't going to just give up, not without a fight."

Standing and beginning to pace back and forth, Jake was sure that if Lianne returned things would get ugly fast. Celeste had left town, moved to their house in Napa as agreed upon in their divorce settlement. Duncan was contained and getting treatment for his illness. Just when things had begun to settle down, Lianne had to return.

"We will deal with it when it happens." With that they switched the topic from mother to daughter. "You should have seen Logan and Veronica last night. They attended the fundraiser together, spent most of the night off in a corner but from what Clarence saw, they had a great time."

"You still have him trailing Veronica?" Keith asked not sure he liked that.

"No, when he got back from Switzerland he attended the party as a donor. It proved rather interesting. How much of the Echolls family reasons for moving to Neptune are you aware of?"

"They wanted to raise their son away from the public eye and the LA publicity machine. Pretty much what was in the press." Keith said as he looked at Jake. "There was more, wasn't there."

"You had better sit down." Jake looked out the window across the parking lot of the cheesy hotel and then said "Aaron had had several incidents with stalkers, then there were was the paparazzi, from the moment that Lynn gave birth to Logan, the press was interested in him."

"They played into that though." Keith seemed to recall.

"Not as much as you would think but I want you to imagine, Keith. Photographers all over the place, desperate to take a photo of their child, who wanted to know the most intimate parts of their lives. Who know that one photo was worth unbelievable amounts of money. And this was before the Internet, Keith. They made a devil's bargain thinking it would protect him long term."

"I can get how they felt if they offered up a little; the press might leave them alone." He said, thinking how many blackmail victims had all said the exact same thing. I thought if I gave them what they wanted, they would go away.

"Logan was always like his is now, smart, charming, mischievous. I recall the first time I met him. Celeste wanted Duncan to attend this private day school and Logan was a student there when we visited. I can recall the first time I met the kid yet I couldn't tell you the first time I met my secretary who has worked for me for six months."

Jake said with a chuckle. "He was notable even then. Add to that that he grew up a combination of his parents and smart. What you end up with is a recipe for disaster especially since the Echolls hadn't realized that even celebrities could be a threat to their son."

"What happened?" Keith was getting that something had to have happened and that it wasn't going to be pretty.

"I only heard about it when Clarence researched Logan this summer after the attacks on Veronica. I wanted leverage against him." Jake warned. "It appears that this young former child star Beverly Lewis..."

"The girl from the remake of the old twin series with Patty Duke, right?"

"Yes. Well she was in a movie with Aaron when she was fifteen. The young woman had already begun to get quite the reputation with her behavior with several young co-stars and she wanted attention. She became friends with Aaron's stepdaughter to get access to the house."

Jake said "This girl seduced a security guard protecting their house of it to gain access thinking that Lynn was at work on her show at the time. Thankfully she came home with Aaron because they entered their bedroom to find her naked on their bed at fifteen."

"Aaron called security firm and fired them that very day but unfortunately that wasn't the end of it. Beverly wanted Aaron any way she could have him and if she couldn't have him..."

"Logan was barely twelve when they moved here." Keith said as he got where Jake was going with this story.

"Miss Lewis got him drunk at a party his parents didn't know she had been invited to then lead him off supposedly to find a bed he could sleep in. She intended to punish Aaron for turning her down. It worked."

"This is why the security cameras at their house, isn't it?" Keith had long wondered why the overabundance of security at the Echolls family home but had dismissed it as a star being paranoid.

"Yes, they tried to get her prosecuted, but they were both underage, Logan doesn't remember saying no. The thing is, she walked back into the party and whispered in Lynn's ear what she did." Jake said. "They did get a restraining order but the press thinks that it is because of her interest in Logan, they don't know the whole story. If they did..."

Keith replied. "This is why they moved here."

"To attempt to give Logan a normal childhood. To an extent it worked, Logan's life has been more normal. However, Ms Lewis was in town. She might be a threat." Jake stated. "Her career isn't quite gone but it is now relegated to guest spots and the occasional movie of the week.

"Clarence found that she is selling anything she picks up at parties to TMZ. We intercepted her calling about Logan last night." He said then added a moment later. "She also mentioned Veronica but not by name. It won't take long for them to find out who Veronica is. To make matters worse, she might have overheard my cell phone conversation with Lianne."

Keith stood and now understand why the urgency to their meeting. "We have to step this up. If too much of this becomes public, we will never figure out who really killed Lilly."

"And Veronica's life becomes public fodder. The best thing we can do now, is let this play out but warn the Echolls that the secret is out there regarding Logan if someone digs deep enough." Jake replied.

"Veronica has her first self defense class tonight." Keith said feeling a bit relieved. "I only hope she takes the lessons to heart. She is too reliant on her stun gun."

*MaDi*

Mac was tense as she joined her friends in their class at Hearst College. When Meg tried to speak, Mac held up her hand and said "Not a word if you are going to be defending Dick."

With an understanding smile, Meg hugged her then sat down next to Veronica and a few others that they knew. Seeing the blond entering, she waved to her only for Hannah to nod no then quickly find a seat near some of the adult women in the class.

"Meg, what is it?" Veronica asked when she saw her slight frown.

"Hannah, she is a freshman or maybe a sophomore girl who was going to try out for the cheerleading squad, she changed her mind last minute then I saw her in the hallway earlier today crying. I just tried to get her to join us, but she refused." Meg saw Lizzie entering with one of her friends and waved to her sister who waved back but didn't join them.

"Who is Hannah?" Mac asked.

"She is friends with the girl that Wallace went to Homecoming with. She is sitting over there in the jeans and pink sweater."

Both Veronica and Mac looked at the blond then each other before asking Meg "Do you know if she likes Cassidy because she ran away from lunch today after seeing him talking to Mac."

"Really?" Meg asked then said with a slight frown. "I don't know, she is pretty sweet but quiet. I was hoping she would try out for the cheerleading squad."

"We should find out if Cassidy knows her." Mac said reaching for her cell phone but their teacher arrived so for the next two hours it was forgotten as they discussed safety in numbers for the first half of the class and how stuff in their purse could be used as a weapon in the second half.

*LoVe*

Arriving at school the next day to see the signs for the various students running for class president, Veronica was standing in front of the announcement board when she heard her name being called.

Turning to greet Wanda Varner, she listened to her speech then said "Wanda, while I agree with you about the pirate points, I am good friends with Meg Manning. It would be wrong to help you and not my friend."

"I see how it is." Wanda said starting to walk away.

"I am more than willing to ask Ms. Dent about interviewing you but I have to give equal time to Casey and Meg. Plus since I am friendly with all three of you, she might consider me the perfect person so I will ask her in class today." Veronica offered then made a point of getting her cell phone number.

In English class, hearing Madison vowing to make sure that a nobody like Wanda Varner lost, Veronica truly wished she could do more to help Wanda and shut up Madison's class warfare crap for good.

Two classes later, Ms. Dent had agreed to Veronica suggestion that she take photos but wasn't too thrilled when she insisted on having someone else do the interview. When Logan was chosen, Veronica felt a little better but asked why she couldn't do the assignment herself.

Lifting the hokey pokey photos from the board, Ms. Dent said with a soft smile "This is why. You are fair and balanced at writing but your photography is brilliant, Veronica. I would rather let Logan do the interviews and writing because his articles make the subjects come alive with words the way you do the same with pictures."

When Logan mugged at her, Veronica laughed then swatted him as they left to speak to the list of people Ms Dent suggested. Walking down the hall, she couldn't resist snapping a quick photo and asking "So, Mr. Echolls, a quote please?"

"Well, how about these words." He said as he pretended to ponder the subject while leaning against the hallway wall. "You, Ms Mars are the only photographer I want to snap my picture; you always know how to find my good side."

Walking towards the main office to speak to Mr. Morehouse for a list of all five candidates, they saw Mac entering school late. Getting said list and making plans to speak to each one of them that day, they saw Mac again this time heading towards her computer lab. "I wonder what is going on?"

"Mac!" Veronica called out to her friend who just waved her off and continued on her way. "What is going on?"

"I think I know." Logan said as they crossed the parking lot towards the gym. Seeing the stuffed white dog tied to the top of Dick's truck, he went to his Xterra got the spare set of keys they had to each other's vehicle then saw Veronica already unlocking Dick's hummer. "I won't ask..."

"Always a wise choice." She said with a wink as she watched Logan removing the dog and placing it inside. "Logan? Are you going to tell me what this is about?"

"Dick saw the dog in LA and bought it for Mac. He wrote a note and let's just say that it was about their sleeping together. He wrote in it about her being desperate for a sleeping partner that he felt she needed a stuffed animal. Yesterday Beaver and Mac were talking about dogs and well I think Mac believes that Dick is making fun of her."

Groaning, Veronica looked at the dog, and then thought about what Meg had told her. Then looked at Logan. "Dick does realize we are way past first grade where pulling a girls pigtails was an acceptable way to tell her that he likes her, doesn't he?"

A bit grateful that Veronica's quick wit had her getting what was really going on; at least partly he said "Oddly enough, I don't think so. Yesterday, he was jealous about the pencils and made an ass of himself."

"An everyday occurrence for Dick." Veronica thought about it then said "The problem is that Dick is very public with every single thought, every single thing he does and Mac is a very self contained person, Logan. This isn't good."

Inwardly thinking you have no idea, Logan looked at her and said "He means well but he is screwing this up, badly. I think that he really, really likes her, Veronica."

"I get that." She said then after closing the door on the Hummer saw the note under the windshield wiper. "Dare we read it?"

"I say we stay out of it as long as possible." Logan said with a sigh. He wanted to help Dick but was beginning to realize that if he did it might make things worse. "I heard Meg tried to help and that is what led to Dick's latest scheme."

*LoVe*

Mac sat down on the stadium bench with Meg and Veronica, grateful they had agreed to meet on the football field for lunch. She just couldn't take another hour of dealing with Dick. "Here."

Hitting play, she showed them the proof of her getting friendly with the stuffed dog then when they had agreed it fit the dare, deleted the evidence then silently handed Veronica the note. Reading it even after her conversation with Logan had her wincing.

**Mac, sorry about not noticing you were asleep in my bed. If you wanted to cuddle all you had to do was ask. Since I won't always be available, I bought you the next best thing. This is Richard the third, he would love to have you do everything you want me to do to you, to him. And he won't object if you decide to come over and play with the real thing some time. -Dick**

Meg read the note then winced as she mentally smacked Dick upside the head. "I am sorry, Mac. I have no idea what he was thinking."

"That's fine; it's not your fault. Though, you should know, I was upset earlier and kind of made a promise that I shouldn't have. Wanda asked me to help her create posters for her campaign." She said wincing at the idea she was betraying her friendship with Meg. "I just feel she deserves the same fair chance that everyone else is going to get."

"Its fine, I think that it's good that so many people are running." Meg said serenely. "Wanda and the others were fine with me still doing the news, so how could I object."

"You know, I really do think that birds braid your hair in the mornings and that you talk to animals." Mac teased as she hugged her friend. "I am still voting for you, though after the way you laid that kiss on Casey, I think a good portion of the female student body might not."

Groaning, Meg said "I can't believe I did that. I have no idea what came over me. I just saw him standing in the doorway and thought, well if I kiss him my second dare would be over."

"It was hot though, Meg." Veronica offered up in between eating her lunch. "Do you have an interest in Casey?"

"No, I mean, I like Casey just fine, but he so isn't the guy for me." Meg said then looking at Mac asked "How did it go with his grandmother?"

"Once she realized I knew what I was doing, I fixed his computer so that she could have manuscripts sent to him and she cut me a check. My parents saw it so I had to put it in my college fund but otherwise, it wasn't too bad." Mac stated.

"Well I did some research on our Hannah and Cassidy question." Meg said proudly. "Georgia admitted that Hannah and Cassidy have a class together. They are lab partners and that was all I could get out of her, so it looks like Hannah likes Cassidy."

"We need to find out how Cassidy feels about Hannah now." Mac said then groaning admitted "He called me last night but I avoided returning his calls because I was online with Bogart. We were talking poetry most of the night."

Meg started to speak but went silent as she vowed to track down Dick and find out what sort of game he was playing. "Veronica, did I see your dad when I drove to school this morning?"

"He is home so that is possible. We ate breakfast together this morning then he went to the office." Veronica didn't tell them about the divorce papers she had found. She got why her dad had more than likely filed them but it still hurt that her parents marriage hadn't been the perfect marriage she had long thought as a kid.

"How are things?" Mac asked.

"Good, he promised to let me speak to Jake Kane if and when I want to. Jake I guess agreed to. Plus he was fine if not happy with my working a few of the cases while he was gone. He is going to double check some of them then and turn them over to the clients so, I might be allowed to do more than answer phones and take photos."

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Over the next couple of days, Meg got the gist of the situation from Dick and tried to help but was rebuffed from both parties. Mac because she was very upset with the constant teasing from Dick and Dick told Meg he had it all under control.

Dick didn't tell Meg why he was so sure of himself, but she had seen his self assurance and after speaking to Veronica had agreed to take a wait and see attitude.

Watching Meg walk away, Dick found himself reliving the morning Mac had been sent the large stuffed dog, how she had shown up as he was getting ready to leave the beach for school after a morning spent surfing.

"_Dick, I want to talk to you." Mac had snapped as she stomped over to where he was slipping out of his wet suit on the sand right in front of the parking space holding his truck. _

_He could dress in the back seat of his vehicle, but getting the skin tight wet suit off wasn't possibly in such a tight space._

"_Hey, Mackie, what can I do for you, or to you?" He leered while inwardly sure that she was upset about the note he had sent to her with the stuffed dog. That she had shown up at the beach was a bit of a surprise but he knew that she was aware he tended to surf in the mornings._

_He saw Mac gritting her teeth and the way her fists were clenched and couldn't resist adding "So, did you hear from your nerd admirer or is he still hiding in the shadows?"_

_Take it back." She said throwing the crumpled piece of paper in her hand at Dick's chest as she tried to avoid looking at the water running down it. Close up she was surprised to realize he had a l__ight_ _sprinkling_ _of hair across his chest and leading south. Furious with herself for noticing, she mentally slapped her own face then said "You are such an ass."_

"_Hey, I can't help telling it like it is. Your nerd admirer is hiding in the shadows. If he was really any sort of romantic hopeful lover he wouldn't be hiding, he would be standing in front of you, telling you how he feels.__" Dick tossed out, knowing that it was the fastest way of distracting her._

"_What because he doesn't send me disgusting notes with his present? Doesn't remind me of some __embarrassing moment with a gift? That means he is what, weak?" She demanded. _

"_Your word for it, not mine." Dick sassed back._

"_No, my friend isn't weak. I told you, he is __thoughtful and_ _ kind. He understands me, the real me. Something you can never get because for you, everything is about the joke." She said with a catch in her voice that made her even more angry but this time with herself. "Remember, I was one of your first victims, back when we were in middle school."_

"_That wasn't a joke." He replied feeling hurt at the reminder from the past and also jealous of Bogart. "I screwed it up, but I really did like you." _

"_Do you really expect me to believe that?" She said scoffing. "I have tried to get along with you because I was grateful that you helped rescue me, protected my friends, but just when I begin to let my guard down, you hurt me. Why can't you leave me alone?"_

"_I didn't think that note is that bad?" Dick said feeling crestfallen as he began to realize how deeply he had hurt her in the past. He had been so stupid, so sure that it was fine, that Mac hadn't really liked him when she hadn't shown up at the pool during the party. "As for the pool party, why didn't you meet me at the pool like I asked you to?" _

"_Are you really that arrogant? I saw you Dick; I saw you coming out of the changing room with Madison. I heard you with her." She cried out as she glared at him, her hands now on her hips as she glared at him. "Why in the hell would I meet you at the pool when I had just heard you having sex with Madison Sinclair mere minutes after having Lilly ask me to meet you. Was I supposed to be your next playmate?"_

"_It wasn't like that." He said softly, his heart thudding as he decided honesty might help. "I went to put on my trunks so that we could talk in the pool. Madison came into the changing room and I swear, I told her to leave. She refused and then I just... I was so stupid and if I could take it back. Then she announced we were dating, I hadn't asked her out and had no intention of doing so..."_

"_And you think it makes it okay? What, were you going have a little fun with Madison then date me? Like hell you were." Mac fumed. "You never said no, Dick. She and you..."_

_Wanting to scream it had only been a blow job and he hadn't meant to... But he hadn't said no and he hadn't left the room. He had deserved to lose Mac back then and yet he refused to let it cost him everything now._

_Mac, it wasn't like that." He said moving closer to her. "I paid for my mistake; can we please just move on and forget what happened? Please?" He asked, his eyes taking in her tense reaction to his words and losing hope._

"_I don't care about that Dick. It's the past but I can't __ignore what I heard_." _She said as she went to leave then stopped and looked at him. "Why would you ever think that sending me that dog was a good idea?"_

"_I thought it was funny." He said lamely as he felt a lot of the fight slipping out of him, as he realized his plan had been a bad idea. "I don't understand why you are so angry."_

"_I get that. I get that mostly this is my problem, not yours." She said shaking her head then noticing her hair was sticking to his wet chest. "Dick, please leave me alone."_

_When she went to step away, her foot tripped over his wet suit but before she fell, Dick caught her and pulled her to his chest to keep her upright. Hearing Mac's slight hitch of breath, he found his hand sliding down and threading with hers. "Are you okay?"_

"_Fine." Mac's voice sounded soft and curious as she found leaning into Dick oddly enjoyable in spite of how disgusted she was with herself. _

_Dick wasn't sure what to do with his other hand as he ended up cupping Mac's face and his fingers were now tangling into her hair. "Are you sure, your ankle isn't twisted?"_

"_No, I am fine." Mac couldn't move; or even force herself to move away from Dick as she felt the water droplets from Dick's hair now landing on her. Mac gulped when she saw Dick's eyes dilating as he came to notice how close they were. _

_Dick wanted to pull away, wanted to avoid crossing the wrong line when he didn't even know where the lines were but he couldn't move, couldn't think as his brain began to shut down._

_Mac felt Dick's fingers in her hair and felt her head begin to tingle __from the weight of his fingers on her hair. The feel of his hand cupping her face had her nose noticing how good he smelt and how soft his skin was and her lips parted as she felt that warmth against them. _

"_Dick..." Mac moaned as she felt her body relaxing against his and his face began to move closer to hers. When his lips brushed against hers then pulled away, Mac moaned and her free hand found itself curling around Dick's bare side and pressing him even closer._

_When his lips brushed against hers again, Mac refused to let him pull back and lifted her head to catch them in another kiss then heard his moan before his hand tightened and held her head as Mac and he became obsessed with the feel of one another._

_Feelings rioted through both of them, Dick not believing how great it felt to finally hold Mac and to kiss lips he had dreamed about for years. When he felt her start to pull back, he stopped her and he released her hand as his went to the small of her back as he fought to keep their kiss from ending._

_Mac was beyond thought as her world became about the lips on hers, the hand in her hair and the feeling of Dick's body against hers. When his lips opened hers and deepened the kiss, Mac found herself pressed against his very __obvious reaction to their closeness_.

_Unable to stop herself, her now free hand was easing around his waist but instead of joining its mate pressing against Dick's shoulder muscles to keep him close, it eased southward and landed at the small of his back._

_It was if an earthquake had happened, except Mac realized the earth wasn't moving. They were. She felt the metal of Dick's truck against her back as he braced her against the Hummer while his lips kept teasing and tormenting hers until both were breathless._

"_Mac, tell me to stop." He moaned not wanting to have her slap him when this ended because he had pressed too far too fast. _

_Flushed and unable to do so, Mac's hand eased to the front of Dick's chest, up his neck and she pulled his head lower so that she could get back to what had been making her feel so good._

_Dick muttered something she couldn't hear but he didn't resist the pressure on his neck as his lips returned to hers. Lips touched and feelings exploded as the kiss deepened yet again, this time Dick didn't hold back as he claimed ownership of her lips, his tongue teasing but going no further, afraid that might be the line he shouldn't cross._

_His hands were now holding her close; as one went down to encircle her waist while the other wrapped itself into her hair._

_He felt Mac's hand threading into his hair, tugging at his hair as he pressed kisses onto her lips. When he felt the way her hand was caressing his back then easing downward until they were touching the waistband of his board shorts that thankfully were dry from being under his wet suit._

_Tearing his lips away from hers, Dick's lips were traveling down her neck, losing track of where they were. When he felt her hand cupping his butt, Dick could not prevent the moan that escaped as his dick went from aching to hard as a rock. "Mac, stop." _

"_Why?" She moaned then froze as reality hit her. Just who she was kissing and that she was doing so publicly had her wanting to escape from her own actions. "Let me go."_

"_Fine, but don't slap me. This wasn't me kissing you, it was mutual." He replied as he awkwardly removed his hand from her now tangled hair and found that his left hand didn't want to let go of her. _

_When they were apart, she looked at the ground, idly staring at the crumpled wet suit about a yard away from them. Hearing Dick start to speak, she found her courage and her eyes met his. "No, please, don't talk. I want to forget this ever happened. No talking about this to anyone. Okay?"_

"_Okay." He answered with a whispered addendum of for now. Because he was confused and if it would help him figure this mess out, he would talk to someone, just maybe not his friends._

Since that day, Mac had avoided him at all cost and he was going to let that happen for now. At least until he could figure out a way to fix things. Then the way to fix this had hit him and he had decided that he would go back to his original plan, that it had been a good one. He had just been executing it incorrectly!

For now, Bogart and Mac went back to speaking online every night as he eased Mac around to the idea of meeting her online friend. In the real world, Mac seemed to be getting ready to combust. They had had another close call, this time no kisses but Dick had seen her eyes and had known that she was going to fight this attraction as long as she could.

*MaDi*

Veronica was thrilled when her father told her she had done a good job when he was gone and that he was proud of her. He had sat her down and gently explained about her mother filing for divorce and that she had also requested custody of Veronica, using that Keith wasn't her biological father. There were several lawyers now involved and all agreed with one thing, that Veronica would not end up with Lianne.

What she didn't know was that Celeste had come to town and hired Vinnie Van Lowe to take pictures of Veronica. Nor that the red head had sent them to Lianne now that she had an address. What she did get was a sense of relief when her mom dropped the custody part of the case even as she pressed forward with the divorce.

Meg had decided they needed some romance and tried to find out what was between Cassidy and Hannah only for Cassidy to barely recall the blond. He had frowned for several minutes then had said "Yes, I think I know who you are talking about. She is my lab partner."

"She likes you, Cassidy." Meg had informed him.

"Hannah? Really?" That was all that was said then the younger boy had gone back to discussing how it was working out with his new driving instructor to her frustration.

Logan and his mom had spent the weekend visiting his dad after an accident on set and had come home to reports in the news about how Aaron Echolls family had flown in to be with him on his deathbed.

The fans had begun to gather at their gates and now Logan was feeling trapped as they refused to believe his father was fine and acted like he should be in mourning for a man who had a hairline fracture in his foot and was more embarrassed than in pain.

"Logan, Dick and Casey are here." Lynn announced as the two boys followed her into Logan's room where he was laying crossways on his bed and tossing a ball against the ceiling.

Leaving them alone, Lynn went to call Aaron. "So, should I be picking out your coffin, according to Star we decided which suit to bury you in and that I am already planning to move on when you are dead."

Laughing a bit, Aaron said "When I do die, you are going to be out chasing some hot young thing even younger than our son."

"I believe that is called pedophilia, Aaron." She said with a dry tone. "Can I at least have one who is twenty-one?"

"Fine, I will be gracious and allow it." He replied with a smirk that he was glad she couldn't see.

"You are supposed to be dead soon, with worms in your eyes, you won't know or care." She responded with good humor. "So if I choose to replace you with Conner, it would be considered in memory of you."

"Logan would make him so miserable for even crossing the threshold or did you forget how he reacted when Conner flirted with Veronica during that visit a couple of years ago. So chose someone else, dear." Aaron replied. "After all if nothing else, I would want you to put our son first."

Joking back and forth, Lynn suddenly asked "All jokes aside, how are you feeling?"

'I feel like an idiot." Aaron said as he leaned back against the chair in his trailer. "I used to laugh at guys my age doing stupid crap like that. Doing my own stunt, when there was a perfectly able and agile stunt man to do so was not good. The studio wasn't thrilled either. Only Richie seems happy, says it reflects a realism that he couldn't get with a double."

"Richie is an idiot for talking you into it and you are for doing it." She scolded then after a moment said "Beverly showed up again. I was at the spa. She had a woman with her, a Laker girl named Kendall."

"The one Dick Sr. found in bed with his wife." Aaron asked. Hearing his wife chuckling, he said "If there was ever a reason to give into your midlife crisis, finding your much younger third wife in bed with another woman would do it. It explains a lot if not his behavior towards his sons."

*MaDi*

School went slowly the next two weeks as Wanda lost to Meg in a runoff but not before challenging the results. Casey had been eliminated in the first bout but there had been no clear cut winner and as Wanda had had the most votes, somehow Madison had convinced the Student Council advisor that a revote was needed.

Sure enough, after that one, Meg had been the winner with eight-two percent of the vote. That had happened in thanks to Felix one of the PCHers who had exposed Wanda as a police narc who had created even a few of the incidents that she had reported to Lamb.

Mac had been avoiding Dick as much as possible but the blond surfer seemed to be everywhere. Twice they had had verbal altercations, both ending with Mac in tears and Dick smacking the nearest wall.

Logan and Veronica had stuck to their vow to stay out of the mess, both thinking that Dick was going about this the wrong way and for Veronica that if Mac would only listen to her that it would have ended long ago.

Meg had gotten her last dare accomplished by the end of the next week but had had an awkward moment when she realized that the concierge had taken her word about a date and had tried to arrange for a male prostitute.

The very shocked blond had stuttered and quickly hung up the phone to the amusement of the other girls in spite of her getting to the goal first.

Veronica had also achieved one of her goals quickly but it had been by accident after her Nikon camera had been giving her trouble. Logan had been entertained at the sight of her talking, cajoling and begging it to stop shutting on and off automatically.

He had been telling the rest of them about it at lunch when Meg had leaned in and whispered to Veronica "Wait that means you got your second dare done."

Mac had text a random cell phone number with the words I know what you did this summer but had already given up on winning because she refused to even think about how she had already accomplished her dare on the beach with Dick.

Veronica had decided to finish hers out but both Meg and she had decided to let Mac off from finishing, mainly because they were well aware of the ongoing war between the blond surfer and the computer geek.

Trying to decide who to affect in order to achieve her goal of giving a boy a hard on without touching him yet who wouldn't care had been difficult enough for Veronica to decide she needed help.

"Logan, do you have a moment?" She asked as they separated from their Newspaper classmates. In a private part of the hallway as the rest of the student either went to lunch or their next class, she tried to ignore her own very hot face as she said "I have a question that needs a male prospective on well... erections."

With a wicked grin, Logan said "Yes, it feels good when we use our own hand to make them go away, but even better when…"

"Stop!" She said her hand covering his mouth as she looked around hoping no one had heard him. When his tongue slipped out and licked her fingers, she pulled it back, wiping it on his shirt and said "Gross, stop this is serious."

"Okay, so ask Logan the Love doctor anything you need to know." Only before he could add anything else, Veronica had thrown her hands up and walked away. Following her down the now empty hallway towards where Veronica was meeting Mac and Meg, still promising to get serious, they both stopped, shocked at what they saw.

Dick with his hands on Mac's hips with their lips locked in what could only be described as a mutually enjoyable kiss. Veronica almost said something to them but Logan covered her mouth with his hand and whispered "Let's leave the kiddies alone."

Backing up, they ducked into an open classroom and Logan closed the door silently then looked at Veronica "How long has that been going on?"

"I don't think it has. Or is." She said shocked as she recalled the way that their friends had been touching each other. There was clearly a familiarity with each other that proved this hadn't been their first kiss. "I wonder why Mac hasn't said anything."

"What about Dick, he couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it." Logan said now seated on a desk. Looking speculatively at Veronica he asked "What was it you wanted to know?"

"Just how hard it would be to give a boy a hard on without touching him." She muttered really wishing she hadn't begun this line of questioning with Logan of all people.

"Just wear knee socks and soccer shorts, you would have at least one boy drooling." He whispered under his breath. "We both would have happy endings."

"What was that?" She asked as she came back from where she had been peeking out the door towards the end of the hallway. "They are arguing again."

"I said it doesn't take much. A pair of shorts on long bare legs works for most boys." He replied as he pushed back his secret fantasy. "You of all people should know that, Veronica. Lilly did stuff like that to guys all the time."

"Oh." Veronica felt bad, she had always loved Lilly but she wasn't blind to the way her best friend played the males around her like a finely tuned fiddle. "Do you think I have ever played around like that?"

"No and yes." He said. Seeing her face, Logan stood and walked over to where she was leaning against the doorway. "Ronnie, you have no idea the way you affect boys. Trust me, that hard on you were talking about, even I react that way to you and probably will again in the future."

Honesty with deception, Logan was proud of how he had answered without making him the girl in this potential relationship. "Homecoming night when you looked absolutely fucking incredible, for example. Just the thought of you that night is enough to…"

"No more." She hastily said then hugging him, she said "Okay, time to separate the combatants."

Diving into the hallway, dragging Mac off just as Dick and she were about to explode, Veronica called back to Logan. "I want answers, try and get them for me."

Logan was tempted to ask what she wanted answers to, her question or the sight they had seen between their friends but stopped when he saw the way that Dick had slammed his hand into the wall. "Lets get you to the nurse and see if you broke anything this time."

*LoVe*

Jake closed the report from the hospital and looked at Wiedman. "So all of this was the result of a tumor growing on his brain?"

"Duncan's epilepsy drugs covered up how ill he has been. They need permission to operate from both Celeste and yourself." The Security expert said.

"I will call her. Maybe offer to send her to him; she will love the chance to be right." Jake said. Celeste had long been sure that Duncan's issues were physiological not mental and it turns out if they had only had him tested they would have been able to help him much, much sooner.

Calling his ex-wife, he winced and tried to control himself when her first words were about Lianne. "We have more important things to discuss than your paranoia. Duncan has a tumor on his brain and the neurosurgeons want to remove it."

"Oh my god, my poor boy." She said, her tone barely changed and causing Jake to grit his teeth when she demanded to be flown immediately to wherever Duncan was.

"The jet is already on the way to Napa. I will arrive the day before they operate but he has to undergo a series of tests before hand that you can sit and hold his hand through." Jake stated. "I have arranged for the Head of Neurosurgery at the Cleveland Clinic to join you in New York for the rest of the flight to Switzerland. I of course will be updated every single step of the way."

"Can't leave your illegitimate brat, huh?" Celeste taunted.

"I can't leave the company right now." He said as evenly as he could. While it was a privately owned corporation, Jake couldn't just leave right then. But that wasn't why he was staying here. Duncan's doctors felt that it would put his son's emotional and mental stabilization back if Jake were to join Celeste.

Duncan's psychiatrist felt that his obsession with Veronica might be the result of his tumor and that if it wasn't there, his attraction to his sister might fade away.

Looking at his computer, Jake sat down and began to work on his latest programming project, needing the distraction from his personal life.

*MaDi*

Veronica hurried into the office of Mars Investigations only to see that her father wasn't there. Curious as to what was going on, she checked for a note and found instead the case file for Lilly's murder tucked below another file on his desk.

Shocked, she sank into his office chair and looked at the large accordion folder and gulped when she saw that a file was halfway inside. When she read the name of confessed killer Abel Koontz, Veronica couldn't resist pulling it out.

Now with shaking hands, she saw that her father had written a note earlier that day that stated Abel Koontz had fired his attorney and had rejected the offer from a renowned death row advocate to hire him a new one.

Her dad's handwritten note stating that it was as if Abel was now ready to die, Veronica wasn't sure what to think. She didn't believe that Abel had killed Lilly, and with the news that Lilly had had a huge secret at the time of her death, felt that she owed it to her half sister to find out the truth.

Turning on her computer, looking up the footage her father had noted in his file, she saw the reporter announcing that Abel would die by lethal injection the following year and then the old footage of Deputy Lamb carrying two clear bags with evidence of his supposed guilt.

At the time, her father seemed to have been looking at Jake or Celeste for the death of their daughter. Veronica hadn't believed he was right but had stood by his insistence that they didn't know the truth. Now looking back, Veronica couldn't help wondering if Celeste had in a fit of anger attacked and killed her own child.

Seeing the folder labeled Lilly Kane, Bedroom, Veronica hesitated then opened it. Seeing the pictures of Lilly's bedroom brought make a flood of memories for the blond as she ran her fingers down the picture of Lilly's memory board, then chuckled at the sight of the picture of the picture of Logan, Duncan, Lilly and herself dressed up for Homecoming the year before.

When she saw the picture of what looked like the long version of Lilly's bedroom, she saw the sneakers half sticking out from under the bed and really felt like she was seeing her best friend again. Lilly was a lot of things, but neat hadn't been one of them. More times than she cared to think about, Veronica had tripped over a pair of her shoes that way.

Curious as to what shoes they were, she lifted her dad's magnifying glass to take a better look then blinked in disbelief as she moved the small round glass even closer. "That isn't possible."

Taking a third look then pulling up the footage of Lamb triumphantly carrying evidence of Koontz's guilt, Veronica stopped the tape and looked closer. "That isn't right."

"What isn't right?" The blond who had entered the office carrying a water bottle asked while the brunette carried two frozen coffees.

After a shocked moment, Veronica debated not telling her friends but after looking at the picture and thinking about how if only Lilly hadn't kept things a secret she might be alive. Veronica said. "Put down your bags and the drinks and I will show you."

When they had done so, she showed them the picture, asking them both if the shoes sticking out from under the bed had the word Logan in a heart on them.

"Yes. Wait, Veronica you aren't back to thinking that Lilly had a thing for Logan are you?" Mac asked, her eyes widening as she looked at the sneakers. "But then why would she write his name on her sneakers if she didn't."

"She didn't, I did that. At the beach earlier that summer. Lilly teased me about it for weeks. She even tried to wash the sneakers but it just faded a bit." Veronica said blushing as she looked at her two friends then the reason she had them looking forced itself to the surface.

Showing them the footage from the Abel Koontz piece, she saw the moment the truth hit Mac, with Meg it was a few minutes longer before she asked "How could shoes found at the killer's boat still be in the Kane house if he stole them the night he killed her."

"They couldn't." Veronica said as she slipped the folder back into her dad's file. "Abel Koontz gave up his second chance at a trial; he is scheduled to die next year. I think that he made a deal with Jake Kane and they are working together to cover up who really killed Lilly."

"Who?" Mac clarified "Who do you think did it?"

"Celeste or Duncan. I can't think of any one else Jake Kane would cover for." Veronica replied.

"Yourself, maybe." Meg said her mind going over that very question. "What about your Mom, do you think he would cover it up if she killed Lilly?"

Veronica wanted to protest that idea, but standing went to look out the stained glass window in her dad's office as she sadly replied "Not for her, but he might have done it to protect me. My dad is still looking into things and having secrets meetings with Jake. I think that they suspect one of the exact same three people."

"What are you going to do about it?" Mac asked.

When they both turned to look at her, she said "It's been over a year; clearly they have run into a road block. The news about the sneakers wouldn't be a surprise to them because if you are right about Abel they would already know he didn't kill her."

The three girls sat there, brainstorming how to prove that Abel Koontz hadn't killed Lilly and who could have. Coming to no new conclusions, in frustration, Veronica decided she wanted answers to the other burning question on her mind.

"Mac, what is going on with Dick?" She demanded. "I saw you two together, I saw you kissing and it didn't look as if it was the first time."

Standing the brunette walked to the window then leaning against it before she turned to glare at her friends. "It means nothing. Nothing."

"It didn't look like nothing. It looked like you were enjoying it." Veronica replied.

"You don't understand." Mac said throwing her hands up in annoyance. "How could you when I don't even get it. I mean, he annoys me, he pisses me off and then he kisses me and my brain just goes away."

"Mac, what is so bad about that?" Meg said quietly. Seeing her friend glaring at her, she held up her hands as if to say give her a moment. "Look, clearly there is chemistry between you two."

"He is a jerk." Mac cried out. "I can't stop myself and I hate it. It's as if my body has no control."

Veronica looked at Meg and then at Mac before saying. "What happened between the two of you?"

"What do you mean?" Meg asked looking at Veronica.

"Just something Lilly once said about Dick has been in the back of my mind for weeks and then I overheard Logan and Casey talking about some pool party and I think that there is more going on than what Mac wants to tell us."

"I can't believe Casey and Logan are gossiping about some silly stupid party from when we were in the Eighth grade." Mac said, her distressed expression showing Veronica that they were on to something.

"Eighth grade pool party..." Meg's mind went back to that party and then looking at Mac then Veronica said softly. "Mac, you can't hold that against, Dick. It was years ago."

"What was years ago?" Veronica demanded. "What did I miss? And how it is I don't know what you are talking about?"

"You were with your mom someplace. I think Logan was visiting his dad on a set in Los Angeles." Meg said her eyes on Mac. "Jake sponsored a pool party for all the eighth graders, but Lilly was there too. If I remember right, it started okay but then about mid party it turned into a mess."

What happened?" Veronica asked. "Not only with the party but between Dick and you, Mac."

"Nothing happened. I have to go." Mac muttered and grabbing her bag refused to stay in spite of her friends trying to keep her there.

When Mac had left, Veronica asked Meg to tell her what happened. "That was the party where Madison came back from changing into her swim suit and announced that Dick and she were dating. The odd thing was Dick didn't seem to even be aware of it until Duncan said something to him."

"So why is that... Did Mac like Dick back then?" Veronica asked wishing she had known Mac better back then.

"He liked her too." Meg said softly. Telling Veronica about how Dick had been planning on asking Mac out at that party, how he had drank some beer to get up the courage and how it had spectacularly backfired. "I never understood it. Madison never ever even seemed to like Dick. Dick screwed up and has never gotten a chance to fix things."

"He hurt her. Mac I mean." Veronica said softly. "I remember hearing something about this when I came home. When I saw Dick with Madison, I asked Lilly who said that they had begun seeing each other but that it was a mistake."

"I still don't get why she did what she did." Meg said. "Later that same night, Mac had left and Dick was getting drunker and drunker until Casey and John drove him home. Madison started a fight with Molly Fitzpatrick and that was the beginning of the divide Lilly was so determined to prevent happening."

"I just knew that when I came back from Albuquerque, it was as if we were suddenly at war." Veronica said wearily. "Madison has spent the last few years making Mac's life hell, but if you are right and she didn't even really like Dick, why would she do this?"

"She knew that Dick had asked Lilly to get Mac to meet him at the pool, that Mac was changing in the cabana next door. She made sure that Mac heard what was going on in the cabana." Meg said her eyes clouded as she relived the past.

*LoVe*

Dick logged off the computer for the night and went to see how Beaver was doing. Seeing his brother doing his own homework, he messed up Beaver's hair. "So, rumor is, some blond girl likes you."

"Rumor is that you are a pain in the ass whom is tormenting Mac because you dislike her boyfriend." Cassidy retorted. "Funny that, have you considered therapy. I hear it helps when you hate yourself."

"Fuck off. Now tell me about this girl." He said flopping down on Beaver's bed. "Do you like her too?"

"A, there is no girl. B, keep your mouth shut about things you no know nothing about." He warned then continued. "I know that you are acting like a fool over a girl who has no clue that you have a thing for her. I know that you are uh, having dreams…"

Beaver found his hands pinned behind his back as his brother lifted him and carried him down to the pool and threw him in it. "Hey, stop, stop. I swear, I won't tell anyone. I mean, who would believe me."

Hearing the large splash gave Dick some temporary satisfaction until Beaver surfaced and called out "Oh, Mac, I love you. Mac, marry me. Mac be the mother… oomph."

Dick had turned around and tossed one of the chaise lounge pillows at his brother's head. "Shut up."

"Ah, poor poor Dickie is in love and can't take it when he is teased." Beaver said as he swam to the edge of the pool. Pulling himself out, he watched his brother stalk towards the chest at the end of the pool.

When Dick threw a towel at him, he muttered thanks then sat down on the lounge chair. "You are a fool Dick. Just tell Mac what happened and that you want to be with her."

"What makes you the love doctor?" He asked glaring at his brother.

"I just am impartial in this. Logan can't be because he is in love with Veronica." Cassidy said as he looked at his brother. Lifting his feet, he kicked off his sneakers moaning that they had been his favorite pair. "Oh course, I could decide you don't deserve Mac. You are an ass."

Laying down on the next lounger, Dick looked up at the stars, then said "Mac and I are going to be fine. I have a plan in play."

"Yeah, I remember watching that movie too, Dick." He said dryly. "We were both snowed in Aspen with Sadie. You aren't Tom Hanks, Dick. This isn't a movie. In real life a girl is going to smack you around when you pretend to be someone else."

"It's going to be fine." Dick said then looking around, said "Mac likes me too, she is just unsure of me. I have to convince her that I am not the same dick I was when we were in middle school."

"You don't think pretending to be two people might make you a dick. What happened in middle school?" Cassidy asked as he wrung out his shirt and removed it then tossed it on the pool deck with a splat.

Dick spilled his guts, watching as his brother's eyes went wide then narrowed before he smacked his brother in the chest. "Ow, that hurt, Beaver."

"You deserved it. You had sex with Madison when you were about to ask out Mac. You didn't think that was wrong?" He asked glaring at his brother.

"I know it was wrong. At the time… it just didn't seem to sink in that what happened had anything to do with Mac." He said his chin slumping until it hit his chest. "I know it now, it's why I want another chance. I still…"

"You might have blown it, Dick." Beaver said.

"I knew that I blew things with Mac back then. It's why I began drinking." He muttered.

"You are fucked." Beaver replied. Dick glared at his little brother who held up his hands and said "Uh, even I know that Madison has some sort of pathological need to make sure that anyone she doesn't consider worthy is kept away."

"I never understood that, I just want to get back what I lost."

Beaver understood that, he had lost something himself at that same time. Something he could never get back, but as time went on, it became easier to let it go.

Dick looked at the fridge near the barbeque pit, longing to grab one of the beers inside but he had depended on them once to get him through something and it had cost him too much.

The two brothers were silent then Beaver asked. "What happened with that attorney today?"

"Mom wasn't happy but she took the offer of the trust. Grand dad's estate lawyers gave her a choice of something or nothing. She is already on a jet for Lyon." Dick said disgusted with the whole thing.

"I heard Mr. McCormick say something about you being emancipated." Beaver stated.

"Yeah, dude, it's really weird but dad signed some papers that made me like an adult or something." Dick replied. "I asked what it meant, but he said it only means that I am sort of legally free of being grounded or something."

The two brothers sat there for a few minutes then Dick stood and helped Beaver up. Walking towards the house, they were silent then Beaver looked at his brother and said "If you need my help, let me know, but you should just be honest with Mac."

*MaDi*

Logan and his mother were seated at the kitchen counter eating cookies dipped in chocolate when his father limped in on a cane. "You look like hell."

"I feel better than I look." He said standing at the sink and reaching for one of the water glasses. Pouring himself a glass of water, he looked at his son and said "I heard about Duncan, how are you doing?"

"Fine." He replied. Seeing his parents' eyes meeting, he said "I get that he is sick, but it doesn't change what he did."

"I spoke to the DA today; they are going to drop the charges for what happened that his medical condition was what caused his mental breakdown at the dance." Aaron said then added "I still think that you should be cautious like you have been in regards to his feelings for Veronica until we get a better feel for how things play out."

"I uh, am having lunch with Veronica tomorrow after surfing tomorrow morning." Logan said. "She wants to talk about things. She said that her dad told her the same thing."

*LoVe*

Veronica walked into her dad's office and stiffly told him that she was going to lunch with Logan.

"Do you ever intend to smile at me?" Keith asked as he watched his daughter glare at him. "Veronica, I am not saying that you have to be best pals with Jake Kane. I am just asking you to hear him out."

"I told you I would think about it." She said through gritted teeth then knowing what would distract him said "Besides, I have something you need to look into."

Reaching over to the top drawer of his desk, she removed the key inside then went to the locked cabinet and then after opening the doors, turned the dials on the old fashioned safe to pull out the Lilly Kane murder file. She saw his eye brow raise and wanted to tell him that maybe he shouldn't have used her birthday for the code if he didn't want her in the safe.

"I can prove that Abel Koontz didn't kill Lilly." She said handing him the photo of Lilly's bedroom and lifting a red marker from his desk circled her sneakers. "I wrote on those sneakers, they were in her room when these photos were taken by your forensics staff when you investigated her death."

"I see them." He said and then watched as she pulled out yet another file and took out frame by frame pictures of Don Lamb carrying evidence bags from the boat that Abel had owned.

"Here, look closely." She said handing him the magnifying glass. "If Abel Koontz removed those shoes with evidence of Lilly's death on them, how did your forensics team take a picture of them in her bedroom? See, it has the same heart and the same name inside. In my handwriting."

With that, Veronica watched as her dad took yet another close look then said "As for Jake Kane, I will speak to him when I am ready and not a moment before. He has had time to deal with this secret and I am not done dealing. Besides this is how the conversation will go. Jake, I have nothing to say to you, you helped my mom cheat on my dad and that your DNA might be in my genes makes no difference. I have a dad and you, Jake aren't it."

With that, Veronica walked to the front office door and slammed it shut. Keith shook his head as he heard Veronica leaving the building. Going back to the evidence, he lifted his phone and called Clarence Weidman. "I have the proof to get Abel off. When is Veronica's next lesson?"

"Tomorrow. I think that we need to arrange for the lessons to step up a bit." The security expert replied as he watched Celeste Kane baby her son. He believed that the tumor had done some of the damage to Duncan, but not all of it.

*LoVe*

Logan watched from the pier as Veronica walked across the sand to where he was waiting. "Hi."

"Hi." She replied then looking at him asked "Meg is working at Java, do you want to get something to eat there?"

"I already picked something up from Luigi's Italian." He said as he stood and brushed the sand off his clothes.

"You already changed? Did I keep you waiting?" She asked as they walked over to the large yellow Xterra.

"No, I just wanted to get an early start." He said as they got into his SUV. Driving off towards the lookout, Logan said "How are you doing?"

"Fine." She said then admitted "Not really but it's what I tell my dad."

When they were sitting on the rear of the truck, Logan looked at Veronica then down over the cliffs. Pulling out the food, he handed Veronica a bottle of water then her take out container. "It's what I keep saying about Duncan."

"Me too." She replied as she opened the white Styrofoam and saw the chicken Parmesan sandwich. With a quiet thank you, she just told Logan her feelings. "I don't know what I feel. I am sorry he is sick. I just don't know that I can ever trust him again."

"Me too." He echoed her earlier words before asking what had been bothering him from the day before. "What was going on yesterday?"

Veronica was silent for a moment then she said "Ms. Dent had me helping the alumni committee which is preparing for their twenty fifth class reunion. My Mom's class. I saw the yearbook, Logan. It's full of them, of Jake Kane and my mom. I hate it, I hate that she just used my dad, that she made him her second choice and then wasn't even faithful."

"You can't be sure of that." Logan said carefully. "At least about what happened with your dad. No one really knows what goes on in marriage, Veronica. I mean, if you look at the press, what it says about my parents, about me."

"I get what you are saying. Cause if I believed everything I read in the media, you are a wild child who sleeps with a different girl every day." She teased. "Though, they also say your dad is on his deathbed and when I called the house this morning, he sounded pretty chipper for a man who's dying."

Shuddering for a second, he leaned back against the floor rug and then looking at Veronica said "Lets just say that Mom and he made up for lost time last night."

Giggling a bit, Veronica took another bite of her sandwich then after swallowing blushed as she said "I can only imagine. I think its cool, though. That your parents are still in love with each other."

"That is great as long as you aren't the person who avoids their bedroom when one of them gets home from an away set." Logan vowed. Looking at Veronica, he asked "What did you find out from Mac?"

"Only what we already discussed. She has shut down on Meg and myself and we can barely get her to join us after school. She keeps saying she has a program she is working on, but I am beginning to think it is an excuse to avoid us."

"You or Dick?" He asked. Seeing her shrug, he said "Dick has been avoiding me. Surfing on his own or he drags Beaver out first thing in the morning. We are meeting later but I fully expect him to cancel again."

Veronica's phone rang and she looked at the caller ID before answering. Seeing it was Mac, she quickly hit answer. "Hey, Mac. What's up?"

"My car broke down again. Would you pick me up for class tonight?" Mac asked and when she was told yes, quickly said that she would talk to Veronica later.

"What class?" Logan asked.

"The self defense class Mac, Meg and I are taking." Veronica stated then when they were finished eating she asked him if he could join her for lunch the next afternoon.

"Why don't you come over and we can swim." Logan suggested. When she agreed, he drove back to Neptune and dropped Veronica off at her car. Pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, Logan went to meet Casey who was waiting with a clearly annoyed Beaver and Dick.

Walking towards where the trio were seated, he caught the tossed beer, then opening it, drank some then asked "What's up?"

"We heard about Duncan." Casey said.

"It changes nothing." Logan said grimly. "He still tried to attack Veronica and I will not let him get close to her again."

Casey who was now on his third beer said "I stopped in and saw Meg at Java this morning. She is not very comfortable with this either."

Hearing Casey's phone beep, they watched as he answered it and then standing, handed Logan the rest of the twelve pack. "I have to go home. My grandmother wants to talk to me."

When he had left, Dick saw Logan staring at him. "Don't say anything. I am not going to answer any questions."

"Fine, we aren't girls, we don't have to discuss anything. 'Sides, you look even more annoyed than Casey did." He said speculatively.

"Mom took the deal; dad is gone for the rest of the winter. What could possibly be wrong?" Dick sarcastically asked.

Beaver looked at his brother then at Logan. "We got a call about the annual Halloween party. Dad planned it and paid for it already. Dick was told to be the host and that Dad had already sent out the invitations."

Dick stood and looked around the private beach then said "I hate this shit. I hate being the one doing this crap. Why can't he come back from chasing after whatever gold digging blond he is screwing in Qatar and host this stupid party."

"Dubai." Beaver corrected then said "I agree though."

"Then don't host it." Logan said. "I mean most of the time no one even really gives a shit about these things. What is the cause du jour?"

"Saving the whales or something like that." Dick said listlessly.

"I still think we should go with my idea." Beaver said frowning as he realized it was almost time to go meet Pete and Marco. They were still his friends but he found it hard to be around them, knowing that they also had the same shameful secret.

"What idea?" Logan asked.

"I said we should call Sadie and ask her to come back and host the party." Beaver replied. Looking at his brother then Logan he said "Dad would have a cow and I think Sadie would enjoy screwing him over."

"She hates dad." Dick pointed out. "Remember she caught him screwing wife number three while they were still married."

"All the more reason to ask her to take over the party." Beaver said then standing; he brushed off his board shorts and said "I have to go talk to that kid about the special affect for his film."

When Beaver had left, Logan saw Dick take out his phone, then shut it before with a heavy sigh, flipped open his phone and looked into his contacts. Finding the one he wanted, he soon found himself asking his ex stepmom for help.

When she finally agreed, he fist pumped then thanking her said he would leave a key for her with the butler. When Logan mocked him out for the word butler, he said "I needed a way to keep Paval and he offered. It works cause then I am not ordering around the house staff and the garden staff nor deal with Dad's staff."

Mac took a deep breath and set it up for the email to go out on Wednesday, knowing that by the end of the next day the second email would be sent and that hopefully by end of the week she would have the money for her new car.

Taking care to avoid the pitfalls of Jake Kane's software protection firewalls, she eased her way onto the school site and then flagged the few results she was personally curious about.

Hearing her mom calling her name, she walked into the kitchen and with a hidden grimace turned down the offer of going to the college football game with her dad and brother.

When they had left, her mom reminded her that she was going out to her book club then told her that there was a tuna casserole in the oven. Heading out front to wait for Veronica, she sighed at the idea of her exciting Saturday night was going to be spent learning how to protect herself from a kidnapping.

In Switzerland, Celeste was grateful that no one had figured out her secrets as Duncan was rolled into his hospital room. Seeing her ex-husband on the phone, she started to make a sarcastic remark but thought twice about it when she saw that he was reaching for his computer.

"What is it?" She asked, thinking what on earth could possibly be happening on a Saturday night in Neptune to have her husband looking so grim.

Jake made a point of moving out of the way so that Celeste could see the screen as the news cued up and began. "We have late breaking developments regarding the death row conviction of Abel Koontz.

"Mr. Koontz you will remember was convicted of the First Degree murder with Special Circumstances death of Lilly Kane, the seventeen year old heiress to the Kane Software fortune. Mr. Koontz' conviction was overturned tonight by the California Supreme Court.

Hearing Celeste gasp, Jake kept his back to his ex wife as the reporter continued speaking. "The four to one decision to overturn the conviction was the result of late breaking evidence that Mr. Koontz' confession had contradictory evidence and that it might have been illegally obtained by the Neptune County Sheriff's department.

"Sheriff Lamb whose arrest and conviction of Mr. Koontz was a forerunner to his election had no comment when this reporter called the Neptune police department."

TBC


End file.
